Heroes of Zootopia
by DragonMan1997
Summary: Picking up after the events of "Whiplash" the former vigilante Whiplash is joined by an ensemble of superheroes known as the Empire. They are followed by officers Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps as an ancient enemy threatens to destroy not only Zootopia, but all mammal life as we know it.
1. Chapter 1

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 1 "Come Together"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

C:\ (Alt-B) June 3, 2026 :: 5663-1028-1605

Dawn Bellwether, codename: Knockout, adjusted her glasses as she walked through the darkness of the expansive tunnel. "Alright. We're almost there. Just a couple hundred feet more to go."

The white sheep's pleasant voice betrayed the other half of her personality. She may look small. But, don't let that fool you. She was a force to be reckoned with. Her taming collar and orange jumpsuit branded her as a criminal. That, she was. Past the green gateways to her soul, there was a burning hatred for predators. She hated them all. Tried to The rifle that was slung over her back testified of her marksmanship through the endless notches that had been carved into its barrel. She led her team member with her tracking computer in hand.

"It's about time." Peter Hogbop, codename: TNT, silently grunted as he carried a huge duffle bag over his shoulder by Dawn's side.

The boar gnawed on the end of a match that hung from the corner of his mouth. His left tusk was overgrown, curling inward. It made him look intimidating, especially with the hair on his head and chin that had been dyed red. Truth to be told, he was harmless. That was if you weren't within range of one of his explosives. Imagine, if but for a moment, staring at a land mine you just stepped on and being faced with the fact that _that_ very device was hand made by the most proficient demolitions expert in world. He's not terribly famous for a reason, his arsenal works.

Aside from a green jean jacket with torn off sleeves and a pair of khaki cargos, he wore no other clothes with the exception of the standard issue communication watch that was identical to Dawn Bellweather's. "We have _literally_ been walking for hours."

Dawn scowled at him. "Could've passed the time by talking."

"Hold up lamb chop," TNT protested, "talking and socializing, that's more your thing. As for me? I just like to blow stuff up." This was the truth. Lucky for him, his occupation ran parallel with his hobby.

Dawn couldn't believe that. "Seriously? Nothing else?"

TNT hummed in thought. "Uh, yeah. Churros. I like churros." This was also the truth.

"Great." Dawn stopped as something toppled out of Peter's duffle bag. "Peter, you dropped your, uh," she stuttered at the sight of the red stick of, "dynamite."

TNT looked down and grabbed the stick and nonchalantly tucked it back in his bag. "Oh, thanks."

Dawn grew more nervous at the rattling sounds in the duffle bag. "Hey uh, what else do you got in there?"

"Oh you know," TNT dug through the bag as they walked, "black powder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, wicks, glue, and uh, paper clips. Big ones. You know, just some office supplies."

Their radio watches flickered to life. " _Hey, cut the chatter you two._ "

Dawn held the button on her watch. "Sorry. We're almost there. How's it going on your end, Whiplash?"

Above ground, a thunderous storm masked the land. The only light that shone through the darkness was a grey cement complex lit by fluorescent light and surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire. Guards could be seen walking in the rain under the cover of black trench coats and wide brimmed hats. Some brandished their security batons, ready for any intruders that came their way.

One guard halted at the sound of rustling in the bushes. Peering through the fence into the darkness was fruitless. And, seeing nothing out the ordinary, he continued his patrol. Little did he know, there _was_ someone staring back at him through the darkness.

"I'm just outside the perimeter." The wolf known as Adam Wolff, codename: Whiplash, dashed across the black landscape around the fence. "Heading for the main gate. Crystal should be taking care of the guards there. You need to hurry up. Our timing needs to be just right."

Whiplash watched from behind a tree.

Two guards stood side by side at the main gate. Two wolves. Gary and Larry had been working at the complex nearly a week. It was their first decent job since their time working for former Mayor Lionheart. Of course, when the mayor got arrested that day, so were they. It wasn't for too long, but it was still long enough to make life miserable.

"Pay day's this week," the grey wolf said very matter o' factly.

"It sure is Larry." The white wolf, Gary, wasn't paying attention to Larry. He was focused. Despite the rain, he was determined to make sure no visible animal made it past him. After the humiliating incident with the chain of howling, he wasn't ready to lose another job.

Larry let his baton swing from his wrist while his paws rested in his pockets, shielded them from the rain. He rolled his eyes at Gary, who had his baton ready for a beat down. "Whatza matter which you?"

"Nuthin's the mattah." Gary kept his eyes forward. He got a little distracted by the rain hitting the driveway in front of him. Patterns seem to appear in the rain drops. He shook his head when he thought he saw footprints. _Just your eyes messin' with ya,_ he thought. Gary tried refocusing his eyes forward again. His confidence in his vigilance was suddenly shattered when something pat his rear. His eyes boggled as he stared angrily at Larry who had begun to whistle. "Ah-hem!"

Larry groaned. "What? A guy can't whistle ta pass the time?"

 _Whistle?!_ Gary calmed himself down. _He's just clowning around,_ at least that's what he told himself. "Never mind."

Larry shook his head. "Whatever." He was looking the other way along the fence when he suddenly froze like a statue. A strange sensation traveled down his tail like it was being stroked or pet. Larry wrinkled his nose and grit his teeth as he looked over at Gary. "My _door_ don't swing _that_ way."

Gary looked astonished at Larry, "What?!"

"You heard me." Larry stepped a bit away.

Gary forced his head forward. _Concentrate dummy, do your job!_ It hadn't been a few seconds even when he felt a paw slowly slide across his rear and up his back. _Darnit!_ Gary stood still. _He's messin' with you, boy. Keep it together. He'll stop clowning when he sees it doesn't get to ya._ In a moment, Gary snapped. That moment was when he felt warm air blow into his ear. "That's it!"

"Wha-?" Larry was cut off when Gary tackled him to the ground. _Grasshoppers for brains,_ Larry shouted it his mind. He dropped his baton as he wrestled Gary underneath him.

"Why won't you stop?!" Gary quietly growled as Larry pinned him down.

"Shut-up. I'm tired of putting up with this."

Gary's eyes grew for a moment when he stared over Larry's shoulder. "Larry?"

"You shut up when I'm talking to you." Larry got his face up in Gary's to make a point.

"Larry!"

"What?!"

"Behind you!"

Larry barely registered the floating baton before it whacked him across the head. He collapsed with a heavy thud on top of Gary.

Gary couldn't cry for help with Larry's body pressing his face against the driveway. "Mayfftheluty." Looking up, he couldn't believe it when he saw the raindrops hitting the outline of something, an animal. It was there and at the same time it wasn't.

A voluptuous feminine laugh broke the silence. "Aw, aren't you boys just the _cutest_."

Gary grimaced and squirmed desperately as he felt his feet being tickled. A subtle whistle, and a sharp pain struck his neck. A swirl of colors entered his eyes before they became heavy and collapsed. He passed out.

Whiplash lowered his semiauto tranquilizer pistol and holstered it. As the targeting display lowered from the gold lenses of his navy and crimson mask, he waited for the spotlight to pass before approaching the gate. As he stepped out, the rest of his suit was visible in the low-light. It was the same shade of blue as his mask with similarly red straps that had been sewn into the suit. On his chest was a white W insignia that had faded somewhat, and hanging from his belt was a coiled up white whip. "Crystal, you're supposed to take out the guards, not play with them."

The invisible panther would have been shrugging her shoulders if you could see them. "You lot are boring enough as it is. I have to find my fun somewhere."

Whiplash moved over to the gate. He grabbed the handle and stopped at the sight of the keypad. "They must have upgraded this recently. It wasn't on the schematics."

"I've got it darling, Crystal is here to save the day." Crystal waved a scrap of paper triumphantly. "The grey one must not have been good at memorizing passcodes."

Whiplash took the paper and punched in the code. "P0B-112." The gate clicked and the keypad turned from red to green. "You know it just occurred to me."

Crystal brushed past Whiplash so he knew she was through the gate. "What?"

"You don't have a code name." Whiplash said flatly as he carefully closed the gate and re-engaged the lock.

"Darling, I'm invisible. Even if someone had my full name, they wouldn't have a face to match it up with." They made it to the cover of an awning where Crystal shook off the collective rainwater.

The splatters from Crystal rolled right off Whiplash's hydrophobic suit. "I see." He looked through the glass of the main entrance. The guards hadn't noticed them yet.

"Hmm," Crystal watched Whiplash as he set to work at the main door's keypad. "So tell me, out of curiosity, do you ever put on that suit for wifey. Or, is it the other way around?"

Whiplash sighed in annoyance as he hooked up the external hacking device that had been specifically designed for the twelve digit lock. "Do you ever stop talking?"

Crystal crossed her arms if you could see it. "Do you ever stop listening?"

Whiplash was almost finished running the program. "I don't listen, my ears just put up with your loud breathing." He froze. "Quiet." He dove behind a pillar as quietly as possible as a guard flashed his light at the door.

The guards inside nodded to the other guard when they saw his light. When the exchange was over, they went back to business. The guards inside went back to their card game, and the guard outside continued his patrol between the complex's front entrances.

Crystal had stood still the whole time with a paw on her hip as if to say, _ya done yet?_ "Admit it. You entertain our conversations because you find my personality _captivating_ and _mysterious_."

Whiplash went back to the device on the door. "I can see right through you." The little device glowed blue with the password. "Really?"

"What is it?"

Whiplash shook his head. "The password is 'bean burritos'." He unplugged the device and typed in the password. A sweet click signaled that the door had been unlocked. "Do your thing."

Crystal hummed with delight as she slipped inside.

"What's goin' on up there, KO?" The end of the match between TNT's teeth had rounded out a bit. He was unpacking a few items from his duffel bag and setting them up in the place they needed to be.

"They're at the front door. Crystal is at it again." It took dawn all of ten seconds to hack into the security cameras. She watched it all as it unfolded.

TNT laughed as he finished wiring up his explosives. "What is it this time?"

Dawn snorted. "She's sticking a card up the one guard's sleeve to make it look like he's cheating." She scoffed at the two guards who were now visibly arguing. They'd be too distracted to notice the invisible panther that would knock them out. Then again, who _would_ notice something like that?

TNT fished in his bag for a detonator. "Didn't she pull that one on the Koniak mission?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders as she watched the live feed of the two guards. One was passed out on the floor while the other looked stupidly around, trying to figure out what happened. "I don't know. I don't pay attention to what she does on missions. She's just my counselor."

TNT laughed at that notion inside. _To think, someone like_ Crystal _, a counselor._ "Were you two a thing or something?"

A vein bulged on Dawn's forehead as her fist tightened. "Why does everyone ask that?"

TNT went stoic as he saw the vein on Dawn's forehead. It reminded him of who she was and why she was dangerous. That vein was like the bloody hourglass on a black widow. _The widow maker that is,_ TNT thought. "Pay it no min'. I was just trying to make conversation."

"Conversation?" The vein on Dawn's forehead leveled.

TNT felt like he had a near death experience once the vein was gone. "I know you aren't exactly happy with the fact that you have to work with predators." That was an understatement. This _was_ the same sheep who had attempted to turn the prey population against predators by using fear tactics in a devious scheme to take control of the city and use her power of influence to destroy the lives of predators. She despised predators.

"And you think just because you're one of the two others that aren't _preds_ , that I'm supposed to warm up to you?" Dawn set down her compact and swung her rifle around. "The only thing we have in common is stupid code names." She angrily broke down the rifle, checked all its components, and reassembled it with precision and speed that came from intense practice over the years. Holding a release button and pulling back the slide, she released a J shaped cartridge full of green orbs. Seeing that all was well through the transparent side, Dawn hooked the cartridge back into the rifle and pulled the slide back the slide an inch before it snapped forward, loading the first orb.

TNT elected to keep his mouth shut.

"I'm a genius! A mastermind who would have had control over Zootopia if it wasn't for that stupid rabbit, and her stupid fox!" The vein returned to Dawn's forehead. "You're just a dumb as bricks hooligan who blows up stuff! An insignificant, pathetic excuse f-" Her breathing escalated as her arms started to expand.

TNT tensed up as he pulled out a rectangular box with a big red trigger. He held it up, squaring his arm so that Dawn could see it in the air, out of her reach. Adrenaline and fear coursed through his veins. "We all got one. Don't make me use mine."

Dawn looked in the corner of her eye. The light from her taming collar was almost red. She took deep breaths and watched as it faded back to green. "Got it," she whispered as her breathing gradually steadied. She knew what happened if she stepped out of line. She remembered the paralyzing pain. The vein shrank away again, but not completely.

TNT said no more as he tucked the device back into its holster. He held down the button on his watch and whispered, "Whiplash, you almost above us?"

The watch buzzed. " _Almost. Why'd you check in early? Something happen?"_

TNT looked away from Dawn. "Another W-23 averted."

The short silence from Whiplash echoed the grim understanding shared with TNT. " _Copy that."_

TNT held down the button on his watch again. "Say, what exactly is this thing we're _confiscating_?"

Whiplash followed the hallways as he had memorized them. Thankfully, most of the guards had been posted outside, and the security cameras were down for repairs and upgrade. "It's called the Scroll of DovaLaika. Supposedly it grants wishes and desires to those who write their names in it."

Crystal chimed in, "Sounds like fun."

"Except everyone who's reportedly written their names in the scroll in the past two weeks is dead."

"Less fun."

Whiplash turned the corner, and pulled back. There was two guards in front of the door he needed to get through. Reaching into his glove, he pulled out one of the rocks he had collected from outside. He tossed it further down his own hallway to lure out the guards. One took the bait as he marched around the corner to investigate. The moment he was in the open, Whiplash drew his tranquilizer and darted him.

The second Guard came running and tripped over the invisible foot that Crystal had stuck out. "Whoops."

Whiplash darted the second guard and rounded the corner. He held down the button on his watch. "Alright we're outside the door."

TNT hunkered down behind an acceptable dirt wall with Dawn. "One for the money," he checked his wires which ran to the carefully placed explosives on the other side of the dirt wall. "Two for the show," he giddily squealed as he turned the key to his detonator. "Ready or not, here we go!" He flipped the ignition switch.

The explosion ripped a vertical hole upward as a shockwave of dust billowed through the tunnel, covering TNT and Dawn.

TNT clenched his eyes shut. He could smell and taste a bit of the dust in his snout. "Ohh," he sniffed the air. His ears twitched as they rang. He relished the after smell of the explosion. Peeking around the wall, a wide grin spread across his face as he admired his handiwork. "If only I could have seen it." _But I felt it in my soul!_ "Ha ha ha!" TNT's face beamed at the sight of the fluorescent light at the top of the tunnel he had forged. "Beautiful."

Dawn coughed and gagged at the dust that was in her mouth and eyes. "You call this beauty?"

TNT pointed up. "It would have taken maybe a week to dig this perfectly cylindrical hole by hand. My perfectly engineered directional excavation mine displaced the earth above with the precision of a god." TNT felt as a tear began to well up in his eye. If the bomb had been his child, this would be equivalent to a father's pride sweeping through him. "This, is holy land now."

"Yeah," Dawn grumbled, "hole-y land."

TNT opened up his duffel bag again, this time pulling out two full body harnesses. He tossed the smaller one to Dawn. After strapping in, he threw on a set of bandoliers that criss crossed over his chest. The center brass buckle was engraved with his codename. The bandoliers held various specialty grenades and devices. And of course, there were a few spare sticks of dynamite. The last items he pulled from the bag was a couple of grappling hooks. Taking one in each arm, he spun them around before throwing them up through the hole.

The two strapped in and began their ascent. The climb wasn't too difficult for either of them. Once at the top, they peeked over the edge of the top. TNT's explosive certainly did a number on the room. They were both surprised when a slow knock came from the door.

"Huh?" Dawn squinted through her glasses at the door.

The steel door suddenly began to creak as it slowly fell forward off of it's hinges. Standing in the doorway was Whiplash.

Crystal made her presence known. "Do you think they heard us?"

"Yes." Whiplash approached the hole and helped TNT up. "We need to get moving, now."

Dawn pulled herself up and drew her rifle, ready for any guards that might come. Noticing that the security pad next to where the door once stood was still in tact, an idea came to her head. She yanked the plastic off and fished through the onslaught of wires that popped out.

Alarmed voices grew in the distance as guards came running inside the building.

"KO, let's go!" Whiplash demanded as Crystal and TNT made their way down an adjacent hallway that branched off from the room.

"Get the scroll. I'll take care of the guards." Dawn began to glance between the empty doorway and the wires she was working on.

Whiplash didn't ask any questions; he knew that she could handle the guards whether it be with her rifle or the unfortunate way. He turned heel and made his way down the hallway where he was faced with the vault. On the other side was the scroll and goodness knows what else. "TNT, whatcha got for me?"

TNT pulled out a plastic wrapped pink blob. "This seems like a cupcake surprise kind of job." He began unwrapping the pink mass and stuck it on one side of the vault. He jammed a plug into the blob. "Against the wall!" Once the three sucked their bodies against the wall, TNT ignited the cupcake surprise.

Dawn heard the smaller blast as she worked at the security system. The guards were around the corner, trying to get through. But every time a guard attempted to take action, they were met by one of the green orbs from Dawn's gun. "Now!" As the guard jumped out, Dawn leveled her rifle with his chest. The green orb was sent hurtling by a gust of pressurized air. It popped against the guard's chest and erupted into a green mist that made his tongue roll out of his head before he passed out on the floor. "Back up!"

Dawn turned back to the security pad. She found the two wires she was looking for and connected them. In the hallways, armored barriers dropped down and blocked off the hallways. A smile dawned on her face as she lowered her rifle. This was a premature mistake.

"Gotchya!" A guard swung in from the other side and grabbed the barrel of Dawn's rifle. He yanked it away, sending Dawn tumbling somewhat to the edge of the hole. A number of guards stepped into the room. They had made it through somehow before the barriers dropped down.

The apparent leader, a lion, stepped forward towards Dawn. "Well looky what we have here. A sheep? Seriously. You're all idiots to have been scared of this one." He grabbed Dawn by the collar and held her over the hole. "Any bets as to whether this fuzzy little intruder will survive the fall?" The other guards started laughing as the lion flicked the wool on the top of her head.

Dawn's eyes narrowed sharply as the vein on her forehead popped out. Her voice slowly gargled out with anger, "You did not, just touch, my wool." Her brows furrowed as her face began to steam and contort.

The lion, freaked out, dropped her into the hole to most of the guards' surprise.

After the smoke cleared. TNT smiled. "Time for phase two." He pulled a green pill shaped object with square fins from his bandolier.

Crystal hissed at the object. "Is that really necessary?" Crystal knew all too well what it was. TNT had once tricked her into the bomb range and set off one close by. It sent her flying and nearly paralysed her. It was payback, no doubt, for the numerous pranks she had pulled on him. She could never prove he set her up, but she knew to expect more retaliation from TNT than just a can of spray paint. Crystal personally knew the power of the mini nuke.

TNT smirked at the fear in Crystal's voice. "The interior of the vault door should contain the explosion."

Now Whiplash was concerned. "Should? What do you mean should?"

Before anyone could stop him, TNT twisted the top so many clicks counter clockwise. "Ten seconds should be good." He dropped it into the door. "Better plug your ears and crouch for this one."

The lion guard stared down into the hole as Dawn's screams evolved into a roar.

Then there was quiet.

The guards shrank in fear as a hurtling orange and white mass burst through the whole and knocked them all back. They could only stare at the towering behemoth of pure muscle and rage that, only a second ago, was the _little_ lamb known as Dawn Bellwether. A loud explosion in the background heightened the hatred in her eyes and her beastly visage. She appeared borderline savage.

The lion shrieked like a little girl as Knockout picked him up by the collar. Dawns voice was an octave lower but still recognizable. "Any bets as to how much I hate lions?"

As TNT dizzily stood up, he stared at the hole that had banana peeled out a little. The rest of the door was still in tact. "Good steel, finally." He reached for the vault door's handle and laughed as it slid open. "Voila!" Looking down he could see the dust covered outline of Crystal. "Madam," he held the door open for Crystal, "after you."

Crystal was visibly shaking beneath the dust, wide eyed no doubt. "Are your ears ringing!?"

TNT shrugged. "I'm immune."

Whiplash pointed at the bionic ears of his mask. "Sound dampeners."

Crystal twitched as she stood up. "I really hate you!"

"I know," TNT nodded with a smirk, "but hey, it's been a blast."

Whiplash tapped both their shoulders. "Come on let's go." Looking up at the frame of the door, he could see that the bolts had been forced deep into their slots by the mini nuke.

Inside the vault, a guard stood armed with throwing knives between the digits of his paws. "Hiyah!" In two swift motions, the guard released a shower of knives at Whiplash.

Upon instinct, Whiplash spun to escape the direct force of the knives. Though his suit was supposedly stab resistant, he never took chances. The tactic worked for all the knives, save for the one that stuck in the back of his left shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Whiplash drew his whip from his belt. The tranquilizer wouldn't be fast enough to stop the guard who was already drawing more knives. The white whip glowed to life in Whiplash's grasp as he swung it over his head and forward. The whip stretched out and sparked as it wrapped around the guard's paws.

The guard howled as the stinging pain from the whip made his knives fall from his paws. He was then yanked forward and promptly decked right between the eyes by Whiplash.

TNT stepped through the vault's entrance. He stared at the passed out guard and then at Whiplash. "Looks like you got somethin' in your shoulder there."

Crystal joined them in the vault. "What happened?"

Whiplash studied the knife in his shoulder before electing to leave it in for now. "A sharp turn of events." It would bleed faster if he took it out. Any blood that seeped around the steel plug was absorbed by the suit.

Their attention turned to the pedestal in the center of the vault. On the pedestal lay a brass scroll tube adorned with runes and ornament symbols of an ancient civilization. A chain connected, what appeared to be, the cap with the rest of the shell.

TNT was about to step forward before he was stopped by Whiplash. "What? It's right there."

"I know. But, something seems wrong." Whiplash adjusted his mask to infrared mode. He was looking for something specific. "If there were any lasers, they're off." Then he spotted it. "Light sensors." He pointed up at the lights and then down at the censors in the floor."

Crystal shook of the dust and sighed. "I got this." They heard her walk over to the pedestal. "I'm over the lights." The scroll tube floated in the air as she picked it up. "Let's see if this is the real deal." The lid popped off as the tube flipped downward. A gold handle gently slid out along with yellowed parchment. It unrolled slightly. "It's the scroll alright." It slid back into its tube and was capped. "Now, how do I get out of here."

TNT muttered. "Walk back the way you came."

"No kidding," Crystal looked up at the lights. "The light passes right through me, but it won't pass through the scroll."

"I have an idea." Whiplash held up his whip.

Crystal gasped. "My my, we haven't even had our first date yet," she teased. Whiplash said nothing. "Fine." The scroll turned with Crystal as she stepped out a little farther so she was outside the sensors with the scroll just at the edge. "Ready." Whiplash flicked his whip forward. It gracefully wrapped around Crystal's invisible waist. "Oh, that tingles!"

"On three, we'll pull and you jump." Whiplash gestured for TNT to grab onto the whip.

TNT reluctantly replied. "Can't we just leave her?"

"One, two," three was a blur as Whiplash and TNT toppled backwards while the scroll flew with them in Crystal's grasp. A split second passed before a steel cage dropped straight down over the pedestal.

Crystal moaned as the glowing whip retreated from her waist and coiled itself up back onto Whiplash's belt. "Let's never do that again."

Whiplash breathed heavily as he checked his shoulder. Luckily he hadn't landed on the knife, but it still hurt enough to make him wince. "Agreed."

As the three made their way into the main room with the hole, they were met by the sight of Dawn who had returned to her normal size. "Sup preds." Her orange jumpsuit was now baggy on her as she sat on the back of an unconscious lion while she etched more notches into her rifle's barrel with a piece of debris. All around her were passed out guards.

Without speaking they all made their way down the hole.

Whiplash accepted a first aid tin from TNT as he plucked the knife out and tossed it in the dirt of the tunnel. "Take care of the tunnel will ya."

TNT gave a thumbs up as he stuck a new match in his mouth. "No problem."

Whiplash dumped the antiseptic into the wound before pressing gauze over it and wrapping his shoulder up. "Darn."

Dawn looked up a Whiplash. "What?"

"How am I supposed to explain this to Lily?" Whiplash sighed as he started down the tunnel.

Crystal and Dawn followed him while TNT readied a good old fashion bundle of dynamite with a four foot fuze.

Crystal chuckled at Whiplash's plight. "I still can't believe you've kept this a secret from her for ten years."

Whiplash shook his head. "It get's harder everyday." The wolf reached for the back of his neck and unzipped his mask, revealing his almost black fur and golden eyes. His ears were mere stumps as they had been cut down long ago.

Dawn snorted. "At least you have a family to go home to everyday."

Whiplash, Adam Wolff, looked down at Dawn with a sense of remorse in his heart. "What about your mother, did you ever get in touch with her?"

"Father probably won't let her." Dawn scowled at the memory of her retched father. "Can't be associating themselves with the family criminal. Not that he was on any moral high ground." She did a double take at Adam. "Why do _you_ even care?"

Adam sighed again. "You're part of my team. I care about all of you. I thought you'd a learned that by now after ten years."

"Team?" Crystal laughed. "We barely see each other once or twice a month."

"That doesn't mean I don't care." Adam stated. "We all got our debts to pay. In our own ways. We wouldn't be doing missions still after ten years if none of us cared." Crystal said nothing. Dawn stared off into space, elsewhere. "This group, the Empire, still stands because we're needed."

None could argue with that. Despite what they'd all been through. They were still capable individuals whose help was needed. And maybe, that was all it took for them to keep going.

Adam was a former vigilante who chased down and silenced the ghosts of his past while stopping crime in the process. His activities weren't the most legal. But, his service to Project Empire led to the promise of complete dissolvement of the charges laid against him. He was driven to protect the family he had gained. His wife Lily the snow leopard, his son Daniel the deer, and his daughter Katherine the fox; they were the center of his universe.

Dawn was the infamous power hungry sheep who attempted to use fear to turn prey against predators. _Because fear always works._ She was poisoned by the very serum she had poisoned other animals with. Only this time, the serum had been amped up by an unholy madness of chemical engineering which left her with her new curse. Spontaneous muscle grown triggered by anger or pain was the new reality she lived with. She lent her service to Project Empire with the promise of a cure to her curse and a reduction to her prison sentence.

Crystal was a scientist who had manipulated her body's refraction index so that it neither absorbed or reflected light. The side effects included an altered brain chemistry and higher testosterone levels. She possessed a unique talent in extreme acrobatics from her time in a circus. After she was liberated from the circus's greedy owner, she was given a home in Project Empire and a lab to research a cure for her condition. Much like Dawn, she sought a cure.

TNT, Peter Hogbop, came running up to them. "Guys! The fuse is lit." As for Peter, aside from having his mind controlled and used to attack the Zootopia Police Department, he was just a guy who liked to blow things up. Project Empire gave him the freedom to explore his passion, which was utilized for the development of police and military utilities.

Dawn straightened her glasses as the four of them kept walking. "Should we check to make sure the hole actually collapses."

"It will," Peter said with confidence. "And besides," He slipped on a pair of Hay-Band shades, "cool mammals don't look at explosions."

The dynamite went off, with a little something extra. The hole was sealed, and the resulting wave of flames highlighted the outlines of each member of Project Empire. They operated from the abandoned cliffside asylum that had been repurposed as their headquarters. They were the new age heroes that defended the known world. And because Project Empire didn't really roll off the tongue, they were most often simply referred to as The Empire.


	2. Chapter 2

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 2 "Rain"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Lily Wolff sighed as she walked up to her home with her suitcase. It had been a long trip full of surprises that she wanted to forget for a while and just enjoy the life she prefered. She was happy to be home, back in the Rainforest District. She never carried an umbrella here. The rain came as a comforting delight, even though it was artificially sprayed by the sky high sprinklers. Her only cover was the same tattered brown trench she wore ever since she found it at a thrift shop. It was identical to another one she had known long ago in a different _place_ that she rarely talked about. It was another trip to forget what she saw but not what she learned.

Lily was not a mammal that could easily be figured out by records or documents alone. Her very name lied, now, right off the bat. Her married name could fool you on paper. A photograph could bring light to the fact that she was indeed _not_ a wolf like her husband, Adam. She was a snow leopard. Odd, I know. But, so it was. Seeing her now, you could never have known that much of her early life was spent on crutches. A broken leg that didn't heal right stunted the growth of that leg. To prevent her spine from misaligning, she walked on her fully grown leg alone with the aid of crutches. Then she had the corrective surgery that made both legs the same length. That was ten years ago. And now you couldn't even tell there was a slight limp at all. Time allowed her leg to forget.

"Ah, nuts." Lily searched her pockets. "Where is it?" Her paws dug and dug but there was no trace of the key to her house. She could easily get in without it. "Adam!" She didn't even have to call her husband to let her in. But, she still didn't like this way. Looking around the whole neighborhood, she sighed when no one was in sight. "Fine." She moved closer to the lock to better hide her actions. She concentrated her thoughts. " _Clé de tous."_ Her paw began to glow with a pink mist that swirled into the shape of a key. Grabbing a hold of the key, Lily pushed it into the lock and twisted it. She could hear as every pin aligned and the bolt unlocked. Lily let the thought go, and the pink mist evaporated.

She had magic, or some form of it. Maybe it wasn't magic at all. Her trip she had returned from was for the purpose of figuring that out. She told her husband it was a business trip. She had lied. Lily didn't want her husband to worry about her. They had both made a promise to leave their pasts behind them. But, problems began to arise. Lily was losing control. So, she followed myth and legend to the end of the world in the frozen tundras of the north where she found the Monastery. There she learned from others like her. They hid from the world, but she couldn't. Lily had her family. She would never abandon them.

The mammals at the Monastery taught her the ways. They taught her that the best method of control was practice. Bottling up power would only ever end in disaster. When Lily had asked what magic was, she was met by a curious answer. _What isn't it?_ Lily learned it was always there. It was raw untapped energy that could be used by those who knew how to harness it. _There's a science to it._ Lily didn't like it, not one bit. She didn't even want it, but she upheld the responsibility. The only comfort she found in the idea of possessing magic was that she could protect her family with it if necessary. Thankfully, that day had not come yet.

Lily pushed open the door to her home. There was joy but also a reserved sadness that came with it. The house was not the same as it was a decade ago. It had been rebuilt after a fire destroyed it. Lily missed little things from the old house, old comforts. Those lost memories were more than compensated for with the addition of new memories for her, her husband, her son, and her daughter.

"Welcome home, Mistress." A bull dressed in slacks, a vest, white shirt and a tie rushed from up stairs. "Sorry for not being at the door to greet you." One of his horns bared a gold band. On his grey vest was a W calligraphed in gold thread.

Lily smiled at the bull who addressed her. "It's fine Grant."

Grant Cowden was a dear old friend of Lily's husband from the darker days of his youth. The bull had also worked with Adam in his crusade for justice all those years ago. Grant was a butler to the Wolfenstein family. Adam Wolff's family. And to this day, he continued his service with love and respect. "How was your trip? May I take your suitcase up for you?" Grant offered a white gloved hand.

"Thank you." Lily relinquished the suitcase to Grant as she unbuttoned her trench coat. "The trip was," she chose her words carefully, "eye opening. Where's Adam?"

Grant's face sunk a bit as he sighed. "The Master is in the basement, _practicing_."

Lily's face sunk as well. "Again?" She rubbed her eyes. "I'll go talk to him."

"Thank you." Grant bowed before starting away.

"For what?" Lily's query halted Grant.

The old bull turned slightly as a smile crept on his face. "He's like a son to me. Ever since his family perished in that dreaded gang war, I always looked after him as if he was my own. It's good to know someone else looks after him as well." With that he turned to the kitchen, most likely to ready lunch.

Lily smiled faintly as she inhaled deep breaths. The smile persisted through the tempest of thoughts and emotions storming away in Lily's mind. _Practicing_. The word was sour now. It brought worry and fear to Lily's mind every time she heard it. As she drew near to the basement door, she could hear it. The muffled sounds of the sound barrier being broken pulsated behind the door. Lily winced as she cracked the door open. The sounds were much louder now and more intense. A series of grunts, of fatigue and pain, echoed from the basement.

Adam Wolff closed his eyes as he swung the red paracord whip over his head and rolled it's long form in the direction of an empty soda can. The can was ripped in half by the whip as it's cracker reached maximum speed. The wolf clenched his eyes shut and loosened sore muscles as he dropped the paracord whip from his left paw. He took hard breaths as he resisted the pain fluctuating from his left shoulder. Eyeing the bandages, he muttered something that was even incoherent to himself. The white bandages were painfully obvious against his fur. His gaze finally shifted as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. A smile came to him at last when he saw his wife. "Hey, honey."

"Adam. Your shoulder!" Lily rushed over to him and grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" Adam groaned as pain shot through him.

Lily let go. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

Adam bit his lip as he worked out another lie, regrettably. "There was an accident. A damaged fan we were working on accidentally got switched back on. Shrapnel went everywhere. I got nailed in the shoulder. No one else got hurt, thankfully."

Lily sighed as she brushed the back of her husband's neck. "I'm just glad you're okay."

Adam felt his heart ache at those words. He wasn't really okay. And deep down, he knew that Lily knew he wasn't either. She had to know, just like he knew something was wrong with her. They both knew something. That they were sure of.

"Adam." Lily grabbed his paw. "Do you remember when we promised each other that there would be no more secrets between us?"

Adam had thought the same thing. "Of course." Of course he did. The memory stung every time he lied about where he was and what he was doing.

"Would you ever lie to me, and why?" Lily was hoping for feedback for her own situation. Her alleged business trip was for a good reason. To gain control of her powers so they never hurt her family.

Adam almost thought Lily was onto him, but the sincere look in her eyes told him otherwise. Those eyes he had come to love so much, they were off. He reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a pair of cat eye glasses. "Drop the magic."

Lily sighed as she blinked away the magic she used to correct her eyesight when ever she didn't wear her glasses. Her vision was blurry until Adam slid the glasses onto her face.

Adam smiled as if to say, _there's the mammal I fell in love with all those years ago_. "You know the only reason I've ever lied."

Lily nodded as she understood. She had heard it before. "To protect the ones you love."

Adam took both of Lily's paws as he kissed her forehead. "That's right." This pained Adam as much as it freed him. His urgent work calls to seemingly nowhere were for a good reason. To maintain peace in the world so none could ever hurt his family.

Lily felt younger again, like she was still in that vine tangled alleyway standing in puddles of _rainwater_. She could see him again, Adam, unmasked for the first time. When he had asked her where home was, she told him , " _Wherever you are."_ Had it really been a decade? Lily didn't know, nor did she care. Maybe it was because she'd imagined there to be flying cars by now, and there weren't any. No, she understood the timeless bliss of marriage. In no way was it ever easy. The fighting began not even a month into their marriage. But instead of letting it divide them, they worked out the situation. After doing this time and time again, communication had been streamlined. The arguments became less intense.

Adam traced over Lily's ring with the heart shaped ruby. "Is there anything you want to say? Anything at all?"

Lily first thought about how much she had really come to love her husband. "Is it alright if I practice magic." Adam didn't seem phased by the question at all. He merely listened to what she had to say. "Not around the kids. But, I've figured out in a way that not using it at all is worse than using it every now and then to-."

"Like letting off pressure?" Adam interrupted.

Lily nodded. "Yeah."

"That's perfectly fine." Adam wrapped his arms around Lily. "I love you."

Lily got that feeling. It had once been so long since she had that feeling. But at the Monastery, and now, it returned. "What's wrong?"

Adam grabbed at one of his ear stubs. "Work, and Nick."

"Officer Wilde?" Lily smiled. "He and Judy still doing good?"

Adam shook his head. She jumped to them over work. That was good. He didn't want to make up lies about work anymore. "Not exactly. Apparently they're friends again, partners again even, but Nick's not… I don't know. He wants to be _with_ her, but not at the cost of their friendship." Adam knelt over and wrapped up the paracord whip. "I know you want to know because of that promise you told me about." He locked the whip up in the steamer trunk next to the tool bench.

Lily remembered the promise she had made in that _other place_ where the _other_ Nick asked her to _kick some sense into him_ in her world. It seemed like Nick had the sense or at least he had come to the conclusion that he felt for Judy. "I hope it all works out."

"You and me both." Adam picked up his phone from the tool bench. "He's called me on several occasions to pick him up from the bar."

It all irritated Lily. Her trip to the Monastery and now this thing with Nick plagued her mind. Why had she and Adam come together so much more easily than Nick and Judy? She couldn't think much more on it as Adam wrapped an arm around her as he lead her upstairs for lunch. "I think I'll pick the kids up today. I feel like I haven't seen them in ages." The thought brought a smile back to Lily's face as she thought about seeing her children. The fact that they were adopted never crossed her mind in all the years that she raised them with Adam. For all intensive purposes, they were their children.


	3. Chapter 3

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 3 "Stressed Out"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

"Loser."

Daniel Wolff's grip tightened on his pencil as he ignored the whispering zebra sitting in the desk directly behind him. The deer turned his attention the clock above the whiteboard that he swore was moving backwards.

"Loser." The zebra whispered a little louder.

Daniel silently groaned as his eyes rolled up beneath his eyelids which got heavier and heavier at the thought of how stupid it was for students to be seated alphabetically. Daniel hated the fact also that there were no students whose last names started with T, U, or V to separate him from his horrible backyard neighbor. The student behind him was like _that_ neighbor. You know the one. They play loud music all night long, and the moment you call the cops, they're suddenly silent. Of course, when the cops are gone, the obnoxious music starts again preventing any form of sleep from ensuing. It was a cruel injustice.

"Loser!" The whisper was louder.

Daniel took deep breaths as he resisted the urge to knock the student's lights out. At least, he knew he could give him a black eye. He'd done it before at camp. _Calm down_ , a voice in Daniel's head prompted more breaths to be taken. _I know, he just really gets on my nerves._ Daniel frowned at the spitball that had stricken the back of his head. _Think pleasant thoughts_ , the voice came again, _think about summer_. Daniel nodded to the voice in agreement, _I know_. He tapped his pencil against the desk, trying to think of anything.

The teacher was sitting with her feet up on the desk with a book in her face. The old hippo obviously wasn't paying attention. Daniel didn't blame her. She was going to retire in a few minutes.

Daniel could see his friend Caleb Redd sitting a little ways up in the next row. His friend was just as anxiously waiting for the clock to strike three along with the rest of the class.

"Loser!" The zebra was at it again. "Still hanging around Caleb's slutty little sister?"

Daniel grit his teeth as the voice came into his head once more, _I can't stop you_. Daniel laughed internally. _No, I don't suppose you can._

A gust of air followed by a scream alerted the teacher who slammed her book shut and stood up. "Mister Stripes! Why are you chewing on a jockstrap?!"

The whole class erupted into laughter as the zebra spat out the jockstrap. "No! I-" He looked at Daniel. "It was him! I know it was!"

Daniel looked at the name on the jockstrap and then to the teacher. "I didn't do it. This is Jerry Hamilton's." He pointed at the pig clear across the room. "There's no way I could have gotten up, _walked_ over to Jerry's gym bag, and taken his jockstrap without him or you noticing." There was no way the teacher could ever deduce that this was a lie. It was a lie that had to be believed by anyone who didn't know Daniel's little secret.

Jerry quickly poked through his back. "Hey! It's gone."

Daniel waved to the pig. "It's over here Jerry. Billy was just cleaning it for ya."

"No!" The zebra shrunk at the second round of laughter from the class.

"Mister Stripes! I will see you after class!" The teacher plopped back down in her chair.

Billy Stripes stared daggers down at Daniel. "How'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Daniel held back a smirk. "It's not like I'm the _quickster_." That was another clever lie. The so called _quickster_ was a phenomenon many animals claimed to have captured on security feeds and blurry phone footage. One image that caught the outline of an animal exploded as a meme that was constantly reposted. While it was sort of a trending topic, it was still most often dismissed as a popular conspiracy myth much like the theory that dinosaurs and dragons lived in the sewers. No one would ever really believe that the quickster was real or that _Daniel_ was the quickster. He never told anyone, not even his parents.

Daniel thought for sure his parents would think he was a freak. He had often wondered about the vigilante from nearly a decade ago. Whiplash. Daniel imagined that _he_ wouldn't call him a freak.

"Got it!" A giraffe proudly waved her phone in the air.

Daniel pulled out his phone and saw a mass group text with a two picture meme. The first picture was of Billy Stripes spitting out the jockstrap. Below that was the blurry outline of the quickster with the caption, THE QUICKSTER STRIKES AGAIN. The meme would have worried Daniel, but he knew it was an inside class joke that would die out, never to be taken seriously enough to connect him with the quickster.

The class began to howl as the teacher got up once more to order them all to sit down. The giggles eventually ceased when their attention was once again turned to the clock on the wall. Everyone readied their pencils, even Daniel. The countdown began.

Three…two...one…

As the bell rang, the students all chucked their pencils skyward into the ceiling panels before bolting for the door. Almost all the pencils stuck. Daniel looked back just in time to see a single pencil fall from the ceiling and hit Billy Stripes in the head.

Caleb excitedly shook Daniel's backpack. "Dude!" The red wolf did an awkward little dance as he walked backwards so he could fac Daniel. "Please tell me that was really you!"

"Sorry pal, I can't take any credit for that beautiful finale to junior year." The voice returned to Daniel's mind. _You shouldn't take credit._

"Aw. Still, that was hilarious! His face, Jerry's, and ah!" Caleb did a short round of fistbumbs to the air as he turned back around.

Daniel went quiet as he remembered why he _didn't_ shove Jerry Hamilton's jockstrap in Billy's mouth. "I'm worried about Sara."

Caleb's mood shifted at the mention of his sister. "Me too, but it's summer. Things have got to calm down by then."

"I can't believe he called her that." Daniel muttered. Caleb leaned in closer, eyes inquiring. "Billy called Sara a slut."

Caleb looked back towards the classroom they had left far behind them. "You should have punched him again."

Daniel shook his head. "What's it been, almost nine years since that day at camp? You'd think the guy could take a hint." He knew better. Animal's like Billy Stripes didn't take hints. They existed in the world for one reason, themselves. Daniel understood that concept. He found a little bit of that selfishness in himself, and it bothered him. A warm sensation bombarded the dark thoughts creeping into his brain. Daniel grabbed at the crystal that hung at his neck beneath his shirt as it's voice came back again. _No. You're nothing like him. Everyone has flaws. Selfishness is universal above all mammal traits. Don't let it overcome you by comparing yourself to those that have given in to their flaws._

Caleb grabbed Daniel's shoulder. "Uh oh."

Daniel could see Caleb's sister, Sara Redd, looking down as she avoided the various snickers and loud mouthed jests that attacked her from every angle. "Come on." Daniel resisted the urge to zoom over to Sara and free her from her surroundings. His friends couldn't know his secret. "Sara!"

Sara finally looked up. Her emotions that she had been hiding back for so long almost flooded in at once as her brother and her friend came to her side.

"Sara." Before Daniel could reach her, he watched as an egg cracked against her head.

There was no pause. The moment the cold yolk shocked the skin beneath her fur, she turned tail and kicked the egg chucker between his legs. The polar bear collapsed on top of the box of eggs he had. Sara's breathing escaped in spastic intervals as other animals stopped to stare. "Why won't you leave me alone!?"

Daniel and Caleb both took a hold of Sara and lead her out of view of the spectators. Passing the polar bear, Daniel saw that it was one of the senior pawball kids. He understood completely what had happened.

From the moment Sara entered high school, there were a lot of wolves that noticed her. One in particular was Jason Wolford. He was a wolf with real talent and charisma. Being the oldest and largest of his siblings, he was more than a perfect candidate for the pawball team. He was big enough to compete and small enough to be swift and agile on the field. His two biggest personality flaws were his choice in friends and his pride. He had his eyes on Sara the moment she came into school. It wasn't until she was a sophomore that he asked her. Being a senior, he thought he could easily bag the the would be prize. Needless to say, Sara rejected him.

Jason told all his friends about it. They engaged in a palaver of trash talking to cheer their buddy up. These friends as Jason called them, wove lies of deceit and passed on the tar of gossip throughout the school. Everyone with an ear listened, and there were many ears willing to hear the story of Sara the cheating savage who slept around the school - so it was. The noxious weeds of rumors are impossible to uproot. To make matters worse, some wolves jokingly claimed to have lain with Sara. The passing jokes added to the wild fire as none recognised the difference between joke and fact. Jason never lifted so much as a finger to correct any of the slander. He refused to help the wolf who hurt his pride.

Daniel recognized the polar bear as Landon Grizzoli, one of Jason's friends. The entire pawball team seemed out to make Sara's life all the more miserable. When Daniel and Caleb went to the teachers, they did nothing. They were told the usual lies about the situation would calm down. If anything, they escalated from that point on. The very thought of the staff's incompetence stoked Daniel's rage.

"There goes the slut!"

Daniel and Caleb turned back in horror as the rest of the pawball team began to chase them.

"Run!" Caleb and Sara didn't have to think twice about Daniel's order. As the two took off for the exit, Daniel thought fast and tipped over the passing janitor's cart which he hoped would give them some time. He ran, and as he did so, he could hear the sound of the pawball team tripping up on toilet paper rolls, mops, and heavens know what else. He bolted through the door. A little ways ahead he could see Sara and Caleb. They had stopped running and were now backing away from another group of animals. It was Jason and the baseball team. "Seriously?" Daniel hated that this mess just kept on growing. "Leave them alone!" He skid to a stop between his friends and Jason.

"Well looky here guys. It's the Wolff with horns." Jason bared his teeth and snarled. "Stay out of this mutt. This doesn't involve you."

"Stay away from my friends or it _will_ involve me." Daniel stood his ground.

Jason laughed. "Let's see how much of a wolf you really are, Wolff." As the wolf readied his arm for a swing at Daniel's face, Daniel instinctively ducked and swept his leg. "Gah!" Jason fell on his back and found himself staring up at Daniel.

"Whoops." Daniel shrugged his shoulders as he stepped away from Jason's reach. "It looks like you're a little slow today."

Jason snarled as he yelled, "Get them!"

Daniel, Sara and Caleb ran again. Though Sara and Caleb made it far, Daniel had been halted by a baseball thrown at his back. He tumbled, luckily, onto the softer part of the grass lawn next to one of the janitors who was raking up leaves. Daniel could see a cheetah running at him with a bat. "Can I borrow that." Daniel yanked the rake away from the janitor and held it just so in the nick of time to stop the aluminum bat from crashing down on his head. He managed to hook a leg over the bat and yank it out of the cheetah's grasp as he thrust the rake with both hands into the cheetah's face.

The rake made a loud thunk against the cheetah's head before he dizzily fell backwards into the grass.

Daniel barely had time to roll over as another baseball player, a goat, screamed as he sent his bat flying into the grass, almost crushing Daniel's leg. Daniel flicked the rake upwards between the goat's legs and got the chance to stand up. The goat, now on his knees, grabbed at the throbbing pain that left him momentarily paralyzed. Daniel barely pushed the goat and sent him falling over next to the cheetah. He was ready now as another came at him.

A badger turned his hat backwards as he held his bat in one hand. Though Daniel was taller, he knew better than to underestimate a badger that could do whatever he wanted. The badger swung his bat but not directly at Daniel. The bat collided with the head of the rake that promptly snapped off. Now Daniel knew he had to be careful. His instincts kept yelling at him to go _fast_ , but his logic told him no. Then his brain settled for something in the middle.

While the badger was recovering from the swing, Daniel twirled the rake staff so as to wrench the bat from the badger's grasp. It worked, barely. But, a new problem arose as the badger got into a fighting stance. Daniel knew if he got too close the badger could tear him to shreds with either of his limbs. He planned his attack.

Daniel rushed forward with the rake staff horizontal, forcing the badger to block with both paws. The moment both of the badger's paws were on the rake, time seemed to slow down for Daniel. He used just enough of his speed to get the momentum he needed without revealing his true nature. Time sped up to normal speed as Daniel drop kicked the badger in the chest.

As the badger gasped for the air that had been knocked out from him, the rest of the baseball team backed off as they realised they were barking up the wrong tree. Daniel smiled triumphantly as the others and even the caught up pawball team turned tail. That smile would cost him as Jason tackled him to the ground while he was distracted.

"Freak!" The wolf brought his paw hurtling towards the downed Daniel.

Daniel managed to shield his face with his arm. That didn't stop Jason's claws from digging into him, though. "Ah!"

"Daniel!" Sara was stopped from running to him as her brother held her back at a safe distance.

Though the scratch marks seared in pain, Daniel's adrenalin allowed him to flip Jason over. Now on top of him, he elbowed the wolf in the gut and pressed his face into the grass with the rake. "Listen you! You're gonna tell the truth."

Jason muttered under the rake. "Bite me."

Daniel pressed the rake down even harder. "Tell the truth. Now!"

The wolf snarled as he muttered. "Sara's not a slut."

"What was that?" Rage shot through Daniel as his grip on the rake tightened.

"Sara is not a slut!" Jason finally yelled. "I lied."

Daniel's mind festered over the image of Sara crying with her fur covered in egg yolk. "Louder!"

"I lied! I lied!" With that confession, Daniel stood up and backed off from Jason who had started to shake. The senior shot flaming eyes at the junior who had bested him. His anger exploded when he saw that several other students had recorded the whole thing with their phones.

Daniel turned his back to Jason and found himself looking at Caleb and Sara who both looked at him like he was a complete stranger. His mind jolted to life as he heard a growl coming up on him. He could hear Caleb calling out his name as he was already turning with the rake in his grasp. It snapped in half against Jason's head. The moment Jason fell from the finishing blow that knocked him unconscious, Daniel found the face of his mother scowling at him. "Mom?"

"Daniel-Rutger-Wolff." Lily's frown deepened as she pointed to the silver minivan. "Get in the car. Now."

Adam could feel his paws digging into his hips as he stared down at his son whose arm was bandaged up. The bandages made his shoulder hurt more. "So, that's why you attacked these other boys? Because of a rumor?"

Daniel closed his eyes so his parents couldn't see them roll. "I was defending Sara and Caleb."

"Why didn't you just go to the principal?" Lily cried. "You didn't have to resort to violence."

Daniel held back every groan of frustration that billowed up inside him. "That didn't work."

Adam shook his head. "What do you mean that didn't work?"

Daniel couldn't take it anymore. "They're idiots! While Sara was crying her eyes out this whole school year, the principal didn't so much as lift a finger as the whole school called her a slut!"

Adam jabbed a digit near his son's face. "Don't raise your voice at us like that."

Daniel frowned as he trembled in anger that bottled up slowly. "I don't get how either of you are so calm. They attacked me when I stood up for my friends."

"I'm not saying that standing up for your friends is a bad thing." Adam groaned.

"Then what did I do wrong?" Daniel's voice grew again. "How can you tell me to stand up for my friends and expect me not to fight back?"

"Because fighting is not the answer to everything!" Adam pointed to his son's arm. "You're lucky you got out with just a scratch. What if you had been seriously injured?"

Lily chimed in. "Do you think Sara or Caleb would be happy if they knew you went and got your leg or arm broken because of them? You can't pick a fight and expect there to be no consequences."

Daniel's mouth dropped in protest. "Those others started it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to finish it, Daniel." Adam sighed as he saw something he was more afraid of than anything else; he was almost staring at a copy of his younger self. He could see a flickering spark similar to an orphaned wolf, from so long ago. Adam prayed that spark would never fan into the same flame that set him on the path he was now trapped on. "Sometimes you have to walk away. You can't stand up for others if you can't stand. I thought as your father that I would have taught you that by now."

"What would _you_ know about standing up for others?! You've never stood up for anything in your life!" Daniel could feel the bottle burst. The deer looked up at the wolf. "You're not my father." Silence swept across the living room. "My real parents dumped me at a fire station."

"Daniel, wai-" Before Adam could say anything, Daniel was already running up to his room. Adam flinched as his son's door slammed shut. "Ugh." He grabbed at his stump ears. "This is my fault. This is all my fault."

"Don't say that." Lily sat down with her husband as she consoled him. "This is just a rough patch. I'm sure Daniel didn't really mean what he said."

Adam dug into his skull. "Did you see him fighting?"

"Yes." Lily shut her eyes at that question.

"And?" Adam had a hunch about what she would say. "The truth."

Lily shook her head as she remembered driving up and seeing her son take on the badger and wolf. The sight of the other animals on the ground left the worst to her imagination. "It was like seeing Whiplash fight."

Adam buried his face in his paws as he stifled a curse. "He really is my son."

Lily grabbed Adam's paw. "That's not entirely bad."

Thoughts of the past stung Adam's brain as memories flooded back into his sight. He remembered running as his brothers ordered him to. He ran as they all fell at the hands of their foes. He remembered the feeling of powerlessness that drove him to gain the strength to fight back. "He can't be like this in this world. He shouldn't have to fight. I should have been there more."

Lily pressed her forehead against his until both of their breath's calmed down. "Ada-"

"Mom?"

Lily wiped away her damp eyes for her daughter. "Yes, Katherine?"

The ten year old fox smiled as she ran up to Lily and hugged her. "I'm happy you're home."

"I'm happy to be home." Lily smiled despite what had transpired.

Daniel slammed his door shut as fiery breaths shot from his nose. Falling back against his door, he slid to the floor and cursed himself for saying what he said. He felt so powerless as tears began to seep into his eyes.

" _Deerenger."_

Daniel sniffled as he pulled the crystal out of his shirt. "Why are you calling me that again?"

A blue apparition of an otter clothed in white robes appeared before Daniel in the light that escaped from the crystal. The voice he heard in his head was hers. None could ever hear their conversation because neither had allowed it to leave the deer's mind. Daniel remembered when he first found himself in the lava dome that had been the crypt to this animal that had made herself known as an echo, so that's what he called her. " _Are you not a Deerenger?"_

Daniel remembered secretly looking through records and finding his biological parent's name.

" _What is more important? Your ancestor's name, or your family's name? A trick question. Both are equally valuable."_

"I know, Echo," Daniel stared at the floating otter that hovered in front of him, "I should know."

The otter smiled. " _Of course you know. You're more like your father than you think."_

"Which one?" Daniel asked.

" _The one that matters most in this case."_

Daniel scoffed. "He's nothing like me."

" _At least you know which one matters most."_ The otter smiled.

Daniel wanted to run, now. It was thanks to the otter that he was able to use his power in the first place. She taught him how to do it to the best of her understanding. There were still plenty of unanswered questions. Sometimes Daniel couldn't tell if some of the answers were really answers or truths he already knew deep down. The question he never fully got the answer to was the mysterious grasshopper ring the otter claimed to have been protecting. Daniel kept that key in a puzzle box at the back of of his desk drawer. It didn't give him his power so much as it triggered it.

Power, the word radiated in his mind.

" _Daniel. What are you thinking?"_

Daniel retrieved a box from his closet. It was covered and dust and slightly burnt around the corners. Daniel never saw the fire that consumed the old house. He mostly remembered just being happy that some of his memories survived. The box was full of comics, news clippings, and drawings of one person, Whiplash. The very image of his childhood idol brought a trail of happy memories that welled up in Daniel. He looked at one comic in particular that featured the red and blue vigilante battling cartoon like thugs dressed in stereotypical black and white striped prison clothes and bandit hats. Daniel laughed at the corny title. "Villains! Prepare to be Whiplashed." Of course, the comical illustrations were nothing like the real thing.

Daniel had seen Whiplash with his own two eyes. He was only six, but he never forgot that feeling of being close to someone so heroic.

A news clipping towards the top caught his attention with the heading, _Where Is Whiplash?_ It lead into an article that lamented the absence of the unsung hero whose part in the war against the Novus Purificatio army was drastically undermined by the Police Force that was praised for saving the city. The article went on into other details about Whiplash along with the disbanded Post Office Battalion had been forgotten and would most likely be lost to time and buried under fake news. None of it seemed fair to Daniel.

"My dad doesn't get it." Daniel spat out.

" _You wish you were like Whiplash, don't you."_

Daniel set the comic down and experimentally tapped into his power. He watched as his arm moved so fast side to side that it appeared transparent. "I wish I had a purpose. It feels awful to have this power and nothing to use it for. It seems like a waste. If my dad found out, he'd probably lock me up and never let me use it for anything."

" _Is it wrong for a parent to be protective the children they love?"_

"No." David admitted.

A knock at the door startled Daniel. He motioned for the otter to disappear. She didn't have to. She could very well appear in a way that no one else would be able to see her except Daniel. Daniel opted for her to leave when others were around because he found her distracting. He didn't want others thinking he was crazy for talking and looking at the air.

"Yeah?" Daniel shoved the box back into the closet.

"Hey, Daniel. It's us. Caleb and Sara."

He stood up and cracked the door open to make sure it was just them and not his parents as well. "Hey-" Daniel was cut off by Sara who shoved the door open and hugged him like a python.

Caleb slid in and shut the door behind them. "Hey, pal. Still with us?"

Daniel laughed as he returned Sara's relentless hug. "Still alive."

The moment Sara broke the hug, her eyes scanned the bandages on Daniel's arm. "Does it hurt?"

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked.

"What?" Sara shook her head. "Answer my question."

Daniel gently held his friend's shoulder and smiled at her. "Answer my question, and I'll answer yours. Are you okay?"

The wolf reluctantly did as he asked. "I'm fine."

Daniel's smile grew a little wider. "Then no, it doesn't hurt."

Caleb's paw shot up. "I have questions." Daniel cringed and the uttered phrase. He knew what came next. "How did you learn to fight like that? Because that was awesome!"

"My parents don't think so." Daniel tried to steer away from Caleb's question. "I probably just lost my summer."

Sara sighed as she cradled Daniel's bandaged arm. "Are you still helping at the camp?"

"Probably not." Daniel silently cheered as his tactic worked. But, now there was this problem. The previous year Daniel had registered as a volunteer to help at the camp he once attended with his friends when they were little. Caleb was with him that year as well. This was supposed to be Sara's first year volunteering. It was supposed to be the three of them at camp, just like old times. "Gosh, I'm sorry guys."

"Don't get all mopey on us like that." Caleb side hugged Daniel. "There's always next year."

Daniel Tried to ignore the fact of the new draft in his room. The deer tossed and turned under his covers to no avail. He thought his dad was kidding the one time he threatened to take his door off the hinges. He would have listened to music to get over the fact, but his mom took his phone. As for volunteering at camp, his dad said he would think about it. Daniel knew that really meant no.

It crushed him inside. He knew with what he had said to his father that he basically forfeited all rights and negotiative advantage. "Why me?" Daniel realized now he still hadn't apologized for what he said. In a way he meant it. The thought had been plaguing him more and more as of late. He wanted to know who his biological parents were. This was difficult since he lacked the resources to track them down. Even if he found them, what would he say to them? The part about being dropped off at the fire station was true. It was a detail deeply tucked in his files. Daniel even met the Chief that called child services when he appeared.

Daniel frowned at the idea of meeting the buck that could have been his father only to hear him say, "I thought I left you at the fire station." Suddenly he felt alone. Fatherless. He couldn't fight. His heart longed for the fight. He knew he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it a little. It wasn't the fight so much as the sense of justice that swelled up inside. When Jason confessed the truth, Daniel felt that he had really done something. If anything at all, it was better than nothing.

Daniel's train of thought was broken by the tapping at his window. He was glad for a distraction. Looking over he saw Sara Redd smiling and cautiously waving through the window. Throwing off his covers, Daniel quietly moved to unlock and open the window. He looked at the vines that conveniently hung close between their neighboring houses. Daniel whispered, "You probably shouldn't be going across those vines, they might break."

Sara frowned at that. "Are you calling me fat?"

Daniel couldn't stifle the laugh that came on. "No, of course not. I just don't want you to get hurt." He looked at his door. "Come in, but be really quiet. My dad took my door off the hinges."

Sara's mouth fell open at the sight of the doorless frame as she climbed over Daniel's desk. "I thought you were kidding."

Seeing that Sara was shivering from the cold night air, he took his blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "So, what brings you to this fortress of solitude?" Sara ignored that comment as she sat down at the edge of the bed. He joined her. "Couldn't sleep?"

Sara shook her head. "No. And you? You're not having nightmares about the Raven again are you?"

"No." Daniel remembered those dreams. They used to keep him up at night. He had been kidnapped when he was little by the Raven, a masked villain who once terrorized Zootopia enough to make everyone forget about the infamous Dawn Bellwether.

Reaching over Sara tugged on the wrist of Daniel's bandaged arm to look at it.

"It's not your fault." Daniel let out a sigh as he held Sara's paw. "You're my friend. And, I'll always be here to protect you." His eyes caught sight of a plastic baggie hanging out of Sara's pocket. "What's that?"

"Nothing!" Sara shoved the baggie deep into her pocket.

After a few hours of idle conversation passed away into the night. The wolf made her exit across the vines back to her home while Daniel settled back into his bed. He looked at the plastic baggie he had snatched from Sara's pocket. He was surprised she didn't notice. He _did_ use his powers to swipe it, but still, she noticed everything.

"What is is?" The otter appeared again and examined the baggy with Daniel.

Daniel massaged the sky blue powder through the plastic. "I don't know."

" _Nothing good."_

Daniel pulled out a lock box from beneath his bed. Stashing the baggie in the box, he removed the key to place it beneath his pillow. Once the lock box was back under his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through his head. "What are you hiding, Sara?"


	4. Chapter 4

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 4 "Trust in Me"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Peter barely breathed as he stared through three levels of magnifying lenses mounted on his glasses. "There we are." The boar chewed on his lower lip as he armed himself with precision tweezers. "That's it now. Red to blue and blue to red." He tilted his head to see where his wires were going.

"Hey Peter!" The loud voice almost sent Peter flying skyward.

"Crystal!" The boar quickly recovered from the miniature heart attack he was pretty sure he just had. "Don't sneak up on me when I'm working on explosives! One crossed wire, even one wayward drop of sweat, and kablooey!" He glared at the floating tank top and cut off jean shorts. "What is it?"

"Meeting time."

As Crystal strode out of the lab, Peter muttered to himself. "Sorry gargantua, I'll be back for you." Carefully setting down his latest project, he followed Crystal to the conference room.

The Empire's headquarters had been set up it what was once the abandoned cliffside asylum. After most of the structure had been gutted, the structure was brought back up to code. Other features were added such as containment rooms, labs, living quarters, several conference rooms, an armory, a bomb and weapons testing range, vaults to secure power artifacts and weapons, a helicopter landing stip on the roof, a quantum computer, and of course, a cafeteria. The facility was isolated on the edge of a cliff surrounded by cascading waters that disappeared some hundreds of feet below into the river, and the only way by foot or car was the bridge that stretched across the falls. Its dark history warded off many who were once curious. Armored guards were placed at every corner and every entrance. It was a fortress, if anything.

Peter groaned as he plopped down into one of the rolling chairs that surrounded the main conference room's long table. "What's on the docket Jack."

The jack rabbit tapped a stylus against his tablet as he looked down the table. "New recruits. It would seem," he stopped as Adam Wolff rushed in and took a seat, "it would seem that a few extraordinary individuals like yourselves have sprung up. They operate on their own. Obviously, illegally. I've been approached by several high ranking officials about the issue."

"More vigilantes?" Dawn glared at Adam. "Isn't one enough?"

Jack cleared his throat to assume everyone's attention. "Though their activities have been declared illegal, they've proven themselves to be effective. It has fallen to my shoulders to legalize them. A couple police precincts have even expressed interest in additional help from us, especially precinct one."

Peter pursed his lips in thought. "So, we're working local now?"

"Not necessarily, Mister Hogbop." Jack picked up a remote to activate the projector. "You lot are good for away missions. These particular individuals know their own lands, respectively."

Crystal hummed to herself. "Why send in the guys without a map when you got soldiers that already know the lay of the land?"

Jack nodded. "Precisely." He clicked the remote. "Here's a list of animals that police and central intelligence have given me." The first picture appeared. It was a blurred photo of a red eyed black mask with a filter. "Several snitches, who've cooperated with the police, call this guy the Moth." Jack clicked on to the next picture which showed a figure in the dark gliding between buildings with what looked like wings and a trail of blue flames. "He's mostly been targeting dealers who handle contraband. He's been around about eight years, but he's gotten sloppy with hiding. So, the police have only known about him since last year."

"What exactly does he do?" Peter asked.

"Well from what we know about him, he can make animals hallucinate and see gruesome nightmares, even in broad daylight." Jack scrolled down the list on his tablet.

Dawn seemed to sink in her seat. "Wow. That's terrifying."

"I'll say." Peter pulled his lucky flask out of his vest and took a quick swig before noticing Jack's glare, that told him to put it away.

Jack clicked his tongue as he smiled. "He can electrocute animals when he punches them. He's skilled on a motorcycle which he has evaded police with too many times to count. And, as you can see by his picture, he can fly between buildings. Apparently that's a newer trick of his."

Peter scrutinized the picture. "He might just be hopping buildings with a glider system boosted by jets. Just a thought. Who else?"

Jack let out a stiff sigh as he continued. "This next animal has no direct name or associated title. But, civilians have called this vigilante the ghost." The next picture showed a smaller figure in white roundhouse kicking a jaguar in the face.

"Oh," Crystal leaned back in her chair, "I like this one. La Fantoma!"

Peter grumbled. "Put the cat back into its cage."

"I need a new toy. You tried to blow me up," Crystal pointed to Adam, "and wolfie over there has his own cat that doesn't like to share."

"Enough!" Jack slammed a fist down that surprisingly shook the table. "This ghost vigilante has no regard for criminals or police it would seem. The latter being a problem."

"The ghost doesn't play well with others?" Crystal asked.

"No. Which is why the ghost is at the top of our to-do-," Jack looked over at Adam who seemed to stare finally at something other than the table, "Mister Wolff? Something to say?"

"Yeah," Peter waved at Adam, "you alright?"

Adam squinted at the image of the ghost vigilante. Something familiar dug at his memory, but he dismissed it. A pain flared up in his shoulder. "It's nothing." He massaged his bandaged shoulder until the pain flickered away.

Jack clicked his remote again to show another photo. "This one is my personal favorites."

Adam whistled as a small chuckle broke his stoic stance. "Woah. What's with the Creature from Bat Lagoon?"

The pictures were all blurred but obviously of the same thing. "We don't know what it is, only that it exists in the waterways of the Rainforest District." Jack looked over to Adam. "I'd keep an eye out for it if I were you. It appeared some three years ago when it stopped a ram from stealing a tiger's purse. Ever since, it's been popping up all over the Rainforest District. It's always the same thing. Someone is in trouble, it comes to their aid. Thankfully it hasn't killed anyone yet." He clicked the remote again. "Thankfully."

"Oh my," Dawn covered her mouth as the pictures almost made her release the contents of her stomach.

The images were of injuries inflicted on a polar bear. His arm had been bent in half at two places. A bite mark circled around his paw. Jack scrolled through notes. "The only other eyewitness was a little girl, a lion cub who was walking home from school. She said that the polar bear had been following her. The moment he grabbed her, _it_ came to her rescue."

There was a knowing silence between them all.

"Next is a bit more of a mystery." Jack clicked on past the gruesome images. "He's an internet favorite who's been jokingly called the quickster."

Adam furrowed his brow as he held his paw out. "Like the comic book hero? My son read those comics."

"Yes." Jack nodded. "Only this is real. Look at this." A black and white security feed came up. "This was at a gas station only a week ago." The footage was drastically slowed down. It showed what looked like the robbery of a gas station. A hooded figure who was looking at candy watched the counter from a distance. Frame by frame the footage played. Only a few frames passed, and the hooded figure had reappeared across the room grabbing the robber. In the next couple of frames, the robber was gone along with the hooded figure. "We think our _quickster_ here might have been a gazelle. The owner of the gas station said he saw a horned figure in a hoodie that day."

"Is that all?" Adam asked abruptly.

"These are the few that have been proven to not be hoaxes and have been considered by myself and the two authorities over those precincts I mentioned earlier." Jack caught wind that Adam seemed detached. "That is all, unless you have any recommendations."

Adam tapped the table in thought. "I would recommend Adam Hobbes, but I know your stance on him."

"He's a criminal of the state and a wanted fugitive." Jack set his tablet down and turned off the projector. "He jumped ship when he lost control over his _Post Office_ Battalion."

Adam frowned as he crossed his arms. "He was a hero that was betrayed by the disloyalty of animals who put their lives above others. He deserves a second chance. For goodness sakes, do you know how many lives he's saved?"

"I am perfectly aware of the good intentions of Mister Hobbes. It doesn't change the fact that he ran away like a coward after realizing that he raised an army at a premature speed which resulted in the formation of new gangs that branched off to fulfill their own nefarious purposes." The jack rabbit made his exit. "I know he helped stop the Raven, and he may have helped save your life. But, you mustn't let bias blind you. The world isn't fair, Adam." Jack straightened his jacket. "There are rules now, as opposed to ten years ago."

Jack was gone as Adam buried his face in his paw.

"Hey." Peter made his way around to Adam. "What's eatin' you?"

Adam shook his head. "Why do you care?"

Peter grabbed his shoulder and smiled. "Because, you did."

Crystal rolled onto the table. "Come on darling, let it out. Something is obviously stressing you out."

"It's multiple things." Adam figured that he might as well vent it now than vent it later. "I get called out here in the middle of my daughter's last soccer game, my son is fighting other kids, and I'm tired of my life being put on hold."

"But you can't complain about it, because the needs of the many are supposed to come before the needs of the few." Crystal's tone was not at all teasing, but sincere and understanding. She had kicked into counselor mode. "You need to remember why you sacrifice your time, for your family."

Peter smiled at one of the few times that he could agree with Crystal. "Yeah. We do this so others don't have to."

"Because someone has to, and I'm one of those animals." Adam rolled his eyes. "I just feel like things are falling apart when I'm not home."

"You're talking about Daniel?" Crystal probed.

Adam explained the whole situation as Crystal and Peter gave their own input. Dawn said nothing.

Peter couldn't help but smile. "Like father like son if you ask me. But, I sorta get where you're coming from. My dad demolished buildings for a living. And like him, as you well know, I have the same deadly attraction. He nearly blew himself up one day, and he didn't like the fact that I was heading down a possibly similar path. I think it was five years ago when I almost lost my foot in that premature blast that I understood how he felt. If I ever have a son, I think I'd encourage him to explore less explosive activities."

Adam half laughed at Peter when he opened his arms for a hug. He caved and stood up for it. A pain shot through mostly his shoulder as the boar nearly hugged the life out of him.

Crystal had changed her position so that she was sitting cross legged. "Your son will come to understand that there's more to life than fighting. He'll find other things to distract him."

Adam never thought he'd hear something like that from Crystal. "What about you? What distracts you from...well…"

"Being so sensual?" Crystal pulled gloves out of her pockets and put them on. "I wasn't always this way, you know." She seemed to look at the form of her paws beneath the gloves. "The process of being invisible is difficult. And so far as I know, it's permanent until I can find a cure. The first month was horrible. My hormones were unstable. Bottling up just made things worse. I was stupid enough to try it. Imagine being in heat while on night howler. Not a pretty picture. Letting it out by acting the way I do helps to moderate chemical imbalances." Crystal wrapped her arms up as if she were holding a baby. "I should tell you, I've kept it a secret for so long that it hurts. I have a son, somewhere."

Adam raised his brows. "You have a son?"

"Yes." Crystal stared at the empty space in her invisible arms. "My little Renato. I don't know where he is. I was so young when I had him, that I never told anyone about him. He was always hidden from the world. So when I, pardon the pun, disappeared - I lost him. I do not know where he is. I can scarcely recall what he looks like. I just remember his green eyes."

Peter tried to hide his tears, but he failed horribly as he pulled up a chair next to Adam. "I suppose I got a secret too. Okay guys, don't laugh, but I like to sing."

"Well let's hear it!" Adam encouraged Peter.

Peter groaned as he shook his head. "I can't, though."

Dawn finally joined the conversation. "What do you mean you can't?"

"I'm a horrible singer. But I still love it. My mother used to sing with me when I was little. But, that was before she-." Peter shrugged his shoulders. "I've never sung around anyone else, I guess because I've lost my _touch_. I would give anything to be good again. Who knows, maybe if I'm not too old, I'll get back at it. Maybe I'll sing in a jazz club or something."

Dawn stared vacantly at Peter. "You'd give anything?"

"Yep." The boar smiled. "Anything."

"Even blowing stuff up?" Dawn had to ask.

"Even that, this." Peter took in a deep and calm breath. "Because there's more to life than blowing stuff up."

Dawn retreated her gaze to her lap. She thought about her secret. She thought deep and long about it. It still haunted her. That face still haunted her. The friendship bracelet that was torn apart by her father seemed fresh in her mind once more.

Adam cleared his throat. " _Oh to be young again, in a place where time had not robbed us of our dreams. To say we know what is real despite what they tell us. Oh to have our dreams born in reality that we might have suffered a little longer._ " The wolf looked back and forth between the members of audience to his performance. "I forget the play it's from."

Crystal gave a little clap. "Imagine that, Adam Wolff, the esteemed _actor_."

Adam laughed a little at that. "I still read scripts to Lily." He eyed Dawn who was avoiding them all. Her taming collar had gone yellow, but not because of anger. "What about you, Dawn."

The sheep straightened her glasses. She remembered what she had almost forgotten. "I didn't always hate predators." She looked to Crystal, remembering her sessions of psychiatric help. "I always wondered what happened to him. My first friend. I don't remember his name. I just remember calling him by some stupid nickname." She didn't really believe it was stupid. "My father," Dawn's collar flickered red for a split second, "drove us apart. And I never saw him again. So, I guess there was more to life than being a monster."

Adam stepped into Jack Savage's office. "Sir?"

Jack had his jacket off with his top button undone as he bent over files that he scrutinized before writing notes in the margins. "Yes, Mister Wolff."

"I need to apologise for my behavior earlier." Adam straightened his posture with his paws behind his back. "I let the stress of home come here and that was wrong of me."

"Your son lashed out at you?" Jack stopped writing and stared directly into the wolf's eyes.

Adam nodded. "How did you know?"

Jack shrugged. "Like father like son." He went back to writing. "You believe, rather than know. You hope, rather than speculate. Those are some of the reasons I admire you. It's also one of the reasons why I've put your name in as my replacement."

"Sir?"

Jack smiled at the wolf. "Mister Wolff. One day, everyone will die. It's a fact. It's our job to prolong that fact so that animals can live the fullest lives possible. There's a reason I've pulled you away from your family so much. It goes along with the reason why I've had you lead the missions these past couple of months. One day, I'm going to expire. And, you're the mammal I trust most to take my place."

Adam fumbled for the words. "I don't know what to say."

Jack smiled as he set down his pen to flex his wrists. "I took the liberty of paying off the parents that wanted to press charges against your son Daniel."

"Why are you doing this?"

"New recruits are going to ask you that one question one day. What are you? Thirty six? I think I remember being that age. I was still a young agent all the way to thirty nine. Then you hit forty. Then you feel it, age." Jack eyed the picture on his desk. Picking it up, he looked into the gentle eyes of the fox that filled the frame. "Things are going to change. And, I want to get those recruits in before the manure hits the fan. I've already got a driver, Penelope Einswine, who's going to help you guys _pick up_ those new recruits."

Adam could see how worried Jack looked. "What's wrong?"

"Mayor Swinton is breathing down our backs as we speak. It's no secret that _an elite task force_ has been going on missions to maintain peace. She aims to expose us." Jack looked at his watch. "She's going to give her speech any minute."

Adam shook his head at what he was hearing. "She wants us to be public knowledge?"

"She's going to make us public knowledge when she rallies the citizens together to vote." Jack pulled a remote from his desk and turned on the television hanging in the corner of his office. "She knows it's going to cause problems for us. I think she's planning something bigger."

Adam turned his attention to the screen. "If it's any consolation sir, I did not vote for her." He shuddered at the sight of the large crowd that was ready to listen to their mayor. "I didn't trust her." The horrifying thought struck Adam. If the Empire was exposed, his wife (the editor in chief of Zootopia Times) would certainly be the first to know.

Both Jack and Adam stared at the screen as the current mayor of Zootopia, Mayor Swinton, Stood at a pulpit to address the city. " _Citizens of Zootopia. It has come to my attention that our streets are no longer as safe as you have been led to believe."_

Adam grabbed at his shoulder as intense pain coursed through him. "Ah!" Jack rushed to the wolf who had collapsed.

Hundreds if not thousands of animals had gathered near city hall to hear mayor Gloria Swinton who was now in the first year of her second term. She played her cards well to get where she was. The fact of how she played the election game this year planted a deep root of distrust in Nicholas Wilde. The fox cop slumped against the police cruiser that he had grown accustomed to being the side passenger of. His partner Judith Hopps came his way. The rabbit carried two coffees with her. "She start yet?"

"No." Nick scowled at the crowd that was filled with both reporters and Swinton's devout supporters. He took his coffee from the rabbit. "Thanks Judy."

"Alright grumpy ears." Judy laughed. "I didn't vote for her either. We're not here to be political. We're just here to make sure no one does anything stupid. It's just crowd control. Besides, Swinton's probably just going to preach about how she'll fix that park she promised to fix five years ago."

Nick tried to not think about Swinton and how she played the prey support card. It reminded him of what Dawn Bellwether had said about prey outnumbering predators ten to one. "So, how was your family reunion?"

"It was good." Judy recalled the party she attended over the last weekend. "I wish you could have gone."

"Eh, you're parents already get enough of this sleazy fox." Nick shrugged.

Judy jokingly punched her partner in the arm. "They would have loved to have you. Jacob and Theo asked about you. So did Gideon Grey."

Nick was careful to force a fake smile. He knew who Gideon Grey was. The pie maker started out in Judy's home town in the burrows. Eventually his business spread to Zootopia. He moved to the city so he could better manage his business. Ever since, Nick continuously began to be more and more annoyed with him. The other fox had gotten _close_ with Judy. It ate Nick alive, but he didn't let Judy see it. He was happy that Judy was able to make peace with the one who once bullied her. However, Nick found himself plagued by the green eyed savage of jealousy.

Nick had once opened up to Judy. He expressed his deepest feelings to her. When things didn't work out, the drinking started. He almost lost his job at the ZPD. Thankfully Judy was there to pull him back. Some weekends he'd still slip. But, he was better. It was all thanks to her. His whole life was better thanks to her. It hurt him every day to pretend he didn't love her the way he wanted to. They were once again partners. "How's mini Jude?"

"She's doing well in school. I'm sorry that I don't have more of my time to give Judy, but she seems to be really understanding of that." Judy Big was Judy's goddaughter. She had come under Judy's care after her parents and her grandfather, Mr. Big, were killed by Novus Purificatio. "I'm glad Gideon was able to pick her up today. This crowd might give us a long day today."

Nick felt a sickening depression hit him. He clenched his jaw tight as he forced his most convincing smile. "Mhm."

Judy looked up at her partner. "You alright?"

Nick looked down at this rabbit who had been his friend for the past decade. He couldn't help but smile every time he saw her. As long as she was there, "Yeah." Nick felt his smile swell into a real one.

The subtle roar of the spectators drew Nick and Judy's attention to the main spectacle of the Mayor who gracefully waddled her way up to the pulpit. The pig cleared her throat before speaking. "Citizens of Zootopia. It has come to my attention that our streets are no longer as safe as you have been led to believe. Gang activity is at an all time high. Extremist predators have infected our streets ever since the attempted conquest by Novus Purificatio. These gangs that have risen in their wake have terrorized us long enough. Now, I know you are wondering about who is to blame. Do we blame the cops who lay down their live for our safety? Of course not!"

Nick muttered to Judy. "Always one for theatrics."

Judy hushed Nick as the mayor continued. "Part of me wants to take the blame for not taking action sooner. But, no more. It is time that I stop blaming myself and start taking responsibility for the city I love." Some members of the crowd cheered. "Citizens of Zootopia, I propose that we turn over a new leaf. So long we have focused on ourselves. We can no longer afford to be so selfish. It is time to be self _less_. We need to think of the needs of society. What society needs must be placed above what the individual needs. And right now, our society needs it's safety ensured. We need more police patrolling our streets and taking down these hooligans and fiends who disturb the peace. Is that not what we want for our city? Peace?"

Now it was Judy's turn to groan. "Ugh, we don't need more cops. You can't speed up police work by throwing more officers at the problem."

Swinton switched around the index cards she had the key point of her speech printed on. "There is more I have to tell you. There have been many rumors spreading on the internet and across social media. Rumors of an elite task force have been posted everywhere from discarded tabloids to blogs." Swinton stared down at the crowd.

Nick shook his head. "You're kidding me."

"I was told not to disclose the fact that these rumors are all true." The crowd began to buzz with excitement. "This elite task force has been in operation for nearly ten years without your knowing. I have personally read the reports on what is known as Project Empire. They are a collection of special individuals with _awesome_ abilities. They have the skill. And, by skill I mean to say that these animals have _super_ abilities. My fellow Zootopians. We have the need. Our streets have a disease. And instead of lending these unique individuals to aid us in clearing our streets of crime, the _higher authorities_ have hoarded these animals. They've been hidden away from us when we needed them most. We need these _superheroes_ who have lived in the shadows long enough."

Gloria Swinton smiled to herself as she entered her office. The sound of the crowd still echoing questions made her lips curl into a more sinister smile. "And the next one." She laughed as she pulled off her jacket and threw it at the coat hook. "Sebastian!"

A midget of a horse tumbled in through the door. "Yes miss?"

Swinton gave him a deceptively kind smile. "My lunch, please."

The little horse quickly ran off and returned with a box with holes in it. "Here you are miss!" Sebastian slicked back his greasy blond mane out of his eyes. He knew something was wrong with his boss, but he couldn't argue with what she paid him to keep quiet. It was business as usual. Though between this term and last term, Sebastian noticed the changes. At first it was subtle. He figured she must have had a bug, the flu, or something. Then she seemed forgetful, or she would know things that seemed impossible. Now, lunch was the most bizarre change.

Swinton narrowed her eyes down at Sebastian as she opened the box with her lunch. "I hope you don't mind my," she pulled out a bag of live crickets, "indulgences. I know I shouldn't really be eating predator food, but it helps with the stress."

Sebastian nervously smiled. "It's perfectly fine." He forced himself to smile so he didn't gag when Swinton downed the whole bag of crickets. A chill went down his spine with each crunch from Swinton's mouth. He thought he might pass out when he thought he heard the squeal of a cricket. "It seemed like the crowd enjoyed your speech."

Swinton swallowed and then laughed as she pulled out another bag. "The average voter, er citizen, is just plain stupid. They're easy to manipulate. That's the easy part." She downed another bag. "But," she snatched a cricket that almost escaped, "you're not one of those people. You're not stupid, Sebastian." Swinton stepped up to the little horse and tickled the bottom of his chin as she stuck the loose cricket in her mouth and bit down on it. "My loyal friend."

Sebastian thought about it. Leaving. He didn't want to put up with it.

"I'm giving you another raise." Swinton devilishly smiled.

Sebastian cursed as he caved. "Thank you Miss."

Swinton pursed her lips as she tilted her head. "Call me Gloria."

Sebastian chuckled nervously as Swinton went for another bag. "Okay, Gloria."

"Ah!" Swinton blissfully moaned as she downed her third bag of live grasshoppers. "I like the way you say my name." After settling down into the chair at her desk, she stuck her legs up on her desk. "Stick with me Sebastian, and you'll have everything you ever wanted."

"Peace, everything society needs, right?" Sebastian said nervously.

Swinton burst out into laughter before losing all facial expression. "You're cute."

Sebastian hated that word.


	5. Chapter 5

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 5 "Here Comes The Rain Again"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Lily held her office phone between her face and her shoulder as she juggled the mountains of papers on her desk. "No! Are you crazy? - We're not making _that_ our front page headline. - No. - Yes I'm serious. - This Project Empire business is dynamite on paper! - We'd be stupid not to cover it. - What? - Nobody cares about that political stunt with the police, animals want to know who these alleged superheroes are. - Of course I'm serious. - Yes! Put it on the front page. And if you can't... - I'm not playing favorites here. You gave me good content in the past. If you can't deliver, I'll find someone who can." She dropped the phone onto the receiver. "Ugh."

Being editor in chief was not a typically stressful job for Lily. News wasn't always so fantastic a hundred percent of the time either. Every now and then, a bombshell story or court case would roll through Zootopia Times and shake up the place. Stories and articles had to be good, and competition with the internet and news stations didn't make selling papers any better. Lily climbed to the top pretty fast after her first article, _The Decaying Art of Storytelling_ , had been published. She had Adam to thank for that as he was the one that submitted her article without her knowing. It got her a foot in the door. And after only a few more articles, she became aware of what animals liked to read. Many of her articles made it to the front page. She ended up giving advice to others, even the old editor in chief whom she had gained favor with. As the old guy was getting ready to retire, he set up Lily to take over for him.

"Hey boss!" A beaver stepped through the doors to Lily's office with a smile plastered across her face.

Lily seemed to ignore the beaver as she kept her eyes on her work. "What do you got for me Miss Tailor? It better be good."

Tailor waved her phone in the air like a trophy. "Page one material."

Lily leaned back in her chair as she looked through the drafts for tomorrow's paper. Straightening her glasses, she readied a red pencil as she began her hunt for errors. "Lay it on me." The pencil began to twirl in her paw as her eyes scrutinized every sentence.

"Jimmy and Clark called in ahead. They got an exclusive that I think you'll be excited about." She looked at her phone as she jumped with joy. "They got a few descriptions of a couple of the _superheroes_ working for Project Empire."

"Well, don't keep me waiting."

The beaver showed off the text to Lily. "The biggest one we're excited about is Whiplash!"

The red pencil snapped in Lily's grasp as she turned to stone in her chair. _No_ , she thought, _I misheard her_. She thought that Tailor had surely said something else and not the alias her husband went by during his time as a vigilante. "I'm sorry, did you say Whiplash?"

"Yes!" Tailor clapped.

Lily's brain began to ache as signals fired at her from every direction. "But, he's been gone for years."

"Apparently not." Tailor's chipperness began to eat at Lily. "It would seem that the reason he's been gone is because he was recruited into the Empire."

Lily forced a smile as she spoke through her teeth. "Empire?" Her mind felt like it was burning as the same cry echoed through her, _he lied!_

"Yeah, we're gonna drop the word _project_ because Empire alone sounds more trendy." Lily thought that was the most rubbish sentence that had come out of any of her interns' mouths. "I'll keep you posted on the article's progress. Ah! I'm so excited!"

Lily tensed up as Tailor left her office. "Calm, Lily." She shoved her paws under her desk as magic began to spill out of them. "Calm. Maybe it's a different Whiplash." The magic dispersed as Lily went for her cell phone. She hit the speed dial for her husband's phone and waited. "Come on, pick up the phone Adam." Lily felt herself getting worked up as details flooded into her mind. The late night jobs, the peculiar injuries, random calls for meetings at the worst times. It hit Lily like she was kissing a train. "Pick up the phone." She cursed as it entered into his voicemail. She picked up her office phone. "Jonah. I'm sorry but I have to take the rest of the day off. Why?" Lily held back a growl. "A family emergency."

"Adam!" Lily slammed the door to her home as she dropped her bag on the floor and tossed her keys in the bowl atop the entryway cabinet.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Katherine looked up at her mother. The fox was sitting on the floor next to the coffee table in the living room. She had paused in the middle of one of her drawings. Katherine liked that more than anything else.

Lily hid it again for her daughter, the frustration. "Nothing's wrong Kitty. I just need to have a talk with your father. Has he come home yet?"

"No." She went back to drawing.

Lily looked as the front door was opened by Grant. The bull was loaded with brown paper bags. "Katherine, I need you to go up to your room. Okay?"

"But, I wanted to tell you about my new friend I made today." The innocence in her daughter's voice made Lily's heart ache.

"You can tell me later sweetie, but first I need to have a word with Grant, and then with your father when he gets home." Lily rubbed her daughter's head as she made her way up to her room with her drawings in tow. "Grant."

"Yes Mistress." The cow had just set down the groceries to lock the door when Lily grabbed one of his horns and dragged him to the kitchen. "Mistress!"

"Sh!" Lily felt like she might float off of her toes as she got in Grant's face. "Did you know?"

Grant leaned back against the counter. "Know about what?"

"One of my interns told me about how _Whiplash_ has been working for Project Empire for the last ten years." Lily looked down at the bull who seemed to shrink at the sight of her floating above him. "Now tell me. Did-you-know?"

Grant knew perfectly well about Lily's powers, but he never saw it much. "I assure you that he never spoke of it to me."

Lily noticed she was floating and returned herself to the ground. She huffed as she grabbed at her ears and cried over the sink. "I can't believe he would lie to me." Lily stared at the little oval picture frame on the windowsill above the sink that held photograph of her and Adam, cooking together. Their faces were spotted with flour. "For ten years." She flinched as Grant held her shoulder.

"Mrs. Wolff. I'm sure he'll explain himself when he gets back."

Lily remembered then what Adam and her had talked about. He lied to protect the ones he loved. She had lied too. And now, she knew it had to stop for good or else it could tear their marriage apart. Lily didn't want that.

Nearly twelve hours had passed. There was no word from Adam yet. Lily was now more worried than angry. _Where is he? Is he alive?_ Her mind momentarily crept back to that other place where Adam was gone, dead. _No!_ Lily stood up and ran to the nearest phone.

"What are you doing?" Grant asked as he brought in two mugs of tea.

Lily found the number she was looking for. "Calling his work." The moment the other end had picked up, she took no time to allow them to speak. "This is Mrs. Wolff. I'd like to talk to the manager about my husband. - Yes, Adam. - Hello? - Yes. - What do you mean he hasn't called back in yet? - Cliffside? - They're regulars? - Thank you so much. - Okay. - Bye." Lily hung up the phone.

"Well?" Grant waited.

Lily pulled her phone and wallet out of her pocket. "I think I know where he is."

"I heard something about Cliffside. The old asylum."

Lily pulled out her trenchcoat and checked all the pockets to make sure they were empty. "I know the place. My friend and I snuck in there once when it was still abandoned."

Grant's eyes grew as Lily pulled on her trench coat. "You're not actually thinking of going after him are you?"

Lily pulled a beanie over her head as she removed her glasses. "You're not."

Grant shook his head. "Believe me when I say I want to, but I'm too old for this sort of thing."

"I understand." Lily went down to the basement and came back up with the red paracord whip on a black belt tied around the trench coat. "You look after Daniel and Katherine until I get back."

"Of course." Grant grabbed Lily's keys to hand them to her.

Lily shoved the keys away as she faced the wall. "I won't be needing those." She focused her magic. As she pulled the beanie down over her face, it transformed into a hot pink and blue mask that covered her face and ears. The trenchcoat changed in hue to the same blue with the sleeves the same pink as the mask. Concentrating further, Lily's blurred vision cleared up as her eyes glowed a more vibrant blue than her they already were.

"Not trying to be inconspicuous, I see." Grant looked up the staircase to make sure neither Daniel nor Katherine had awoken. "Good luck."

Lily's paw glowed pink as she drew out the shape of a door on the wall. She visualized her destination. " _Porte de pont."_ The door flickered into pink sparks that became three dimensional. Lily readied her paw near the handle. It would take a lot of energy from her. "Okay." She grabbed the handle which sparked madly as she swung open the door. She could see some foreign hallway that was not of her house but of Cliffside. She stepped through.

Lily pressed herself against the wall as the doorway disappeared. _Okay_ , she could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she fully grasped the situation she was now in. She had just stepped into a highly secure government facility that had guards at almost every turn. _Fun_. She had to be careful now. What she had learned at the monastery was coming back to her. She had already lost a lot of power from creating the door that got her here. Now she had to conserve what she had, which meant she couldn't afford to silence the sound of her footsteps.

After taking a short step, Lily smiled at the lack of noise. Her normal steps were quiet enough. She continued on through the hall. It wasn't very long before an alarm went off.

" _Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"_

 _Great._ Lily threw up a forcefield that deflected the tranquilizer darts that had been fired at her by nearly twenty guards that had rushed the hallway. With a huff, she threw the forcefield their way and knocked all the guards onto their back sides while she ran the opposite direction. Making a hard left she skid through a pair of doors into what looked like a cafeteria full of guards. _Crap!_ Lily darted across the cafeteria through another set of doors. She heard darts hit the door that had just closed as she ran down another hallway.

Lily growled under her breath as she thought about her husband. "How in the world does he do this!" She remembered hearing all those news reports about her husband, _Whiplash_ \- stopping a bank robbery, saving animals from a burning apartment complex, and fighting an army for goodness sakes. It was harder than it looked. Lily froze as a maroon trench coat appeared at the end of the next hallway. There was nothing else, just a coat.

"Well, hello there." The coat flipped around and fell to the floor without form.

Lily barely heard the running before something knocked her onto the floor. She erupted into a coughing fit from the pain in her chest.

"You're a bit on the slow side, darling. I must say though, your mask reminds me of someone."

"Whiplash." Lily muttered, trying to distract the voice without a body. It didn't work as she felt herself being raised. Though she looked like she was floating, she could feel the paws of the one picking her up.

"Oh." The voice cracked. "You a little on the heavy side."

Lily gasped. "Did you just call me fat?" She spilled magic out of her paws that threw the invisible feline up through the ceiling panels. Lily floated back onto her feet as her opponent hit the floor, covered in dust from the ceiling.

"A woman!" The voice cackled. "Cat fight." She jumped up, leaving the dust behind.

Lily nearly screamed as she felt legs wrap around her neck and flip her though the air. She rolled into a stance where she concentrated her magic. " _Vue âme._ " She could see the outline of a large cat. "Gotchya!" Lily ducked below the invisible cat's arm that was coming for her head. She turned down and grabbed her tail. " _Force de beaucoup!"_

"Uh oh-," were the only words Lily heard as she effortlessly threw her opponent against the wall hard enough to leave an imprint in the drywall.

Lily grabbed the outline of what she believed to be her opponent's neck. "Where's Whiplash?"

There was a hissing laugh that escaped Lily's grasp. "Crystal doesn't share her _boy toys_." Crystal ubruptly head-butt Lily, flicked up her legs and slammed them into Lily's chest.

Lily fell to her back, groaning at the wind that had been knocked out. Panicking, she put up another force field. She silently smiled at the sound of what she hoped was Crystal's face smacking against the magical barrier. Dropping all her magic she picked up Crystal as more doors flew open. Lily's eyes widened as her breath returned to gasp at the floating tranquilizer dart that was lodged in crystal who fell silent. Looking past the dart, she gulped at a familiar sight. She met him on the bus once. She remembered that because she had seen him on the news the very next day after that encounter. She recognized TNT.

The boar plucked the match he'd been gnawing on from beneath his teeth and struck it on his overgrown tusk. "Good thing we have insurance." He lit a triple bundle of dynamite and chucked it at Lily.

Lily quickly dropped crystal's body and pulled the paracord whip from her belt. Adam had taught her a few tricks. She prayed she could still remember what he taught her. She swung the whip around her head and flicked her wrist at the precise moment. She screamed internally with joy as the whip cracked loud and clear.

TNT stared as the fuse, that had been split from the dynamite, fizzled out. "Huh." Shrugging his shoulders he decided to do things the old fashioned way. He leaned forward as he began to charge at Lily. Flicking his wrists up let loose a trail of fire that spewed onward.

" _Vent de division._ " Lily swept her arms across each other, blowing out the fire in a wave of intense air, before reeling the whip back again and wrapping it around TNT's legs. She yanked on the whip as she sidestepped.

TNT howled as he fell face first and slid a few feet. "Ugh." His tusks scraped against the floor as Lily pulled him towards her. The boar went stoic as Lily rolled him over. "I think it's fair to say I overestimated my abilities." He squealed as Lily grabbed him by one of his bandoliers.

"Listen." Lily shook TNT. "Where is Whiplash."

TNT grumbled. "The infirmary."

"Why is he there?" Lily growled at his silence, "Answer me!"

TNT finally yelped, "He's Dying!"

Lily felt her heart sink into a cold abyss at those words.

"He was poisoned, and there's no cure for the poison." TNT frown deeply. "If you wanted to kill him-"

"No." Lily hissed. "Come on." She unwrapped the whip from TNT's legs. "I can save him."

TNT stared at Lily. "Oh'kay?"

"Come on. Where's the infirmary?"

"You're serious?" TNT asked as he cautiously stood up.

"Yes!" Lily screamed. "Come on! Where is the infirmary?"

TNT pointed the direction he was walking towards. "This way."

The two made their way to the next hall and into an elevator. Neither spoke as the elevator climbed up the floors while at the same time squawking out some jingle-fied version of a song Lily remembered her parents listening to on cassette tapes. The words played through her head - _the rain again, falling on my head_ \- the elevator screeched to a halt.

"Darn." TNT tried tapping the buttons. "They locked the elevators." He stared at Lily. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but I need to know. Are you serious about saving Whiplash's life?"

"Yes." Lily quickly replied.

TNT nodded. "Okay." He pulled a black box from his belt. "Take this. You might need it if Knockout is up there." Lily clipped the black box onto her belt as TNT clasped his hooves together. "It's just two more floors. I'm too fat to fit through the maintenance panel, but you could squeeze right through."

Lily watched as TNT kicked a metal panel, denting it enough to peel away. "Why are you helping me?"

TNT set the dented panel aside as his face became calm. "He's saved my life on many occasions. He's a good leader. And, he's looked out for all of us to the best of his ability. Intruder or not, if you say you can patch him up, I'll take that chance."

Lily nodded as she went for the new opening in the elevator. "Thank you."

"Good luck."

Lily wiggled her way into the elevator shaft. She didn't have to spend any of her magic here. After realizing that she had gained a bit of weight from her office job, she had started going to a rock climbing gym to stay in shape. _How different could it be?_ That's what Lily thought. The climb wasn't as difficult for her as you'd think. However it was still a bit of a challenge as there were no multi colored plastic studs for her to grip onto here. After pulling herself up onto the top of the elevator, she eyed the cables that held it up. "Here we go." Lily began to shimy her way up one of the cables. It was physically demanding, but every moment she didn't use her magic was another moment that her magic could regenerate.

Finally at the doors she needed to be at, she held her breath and jumped to the bar adjacent to the doors. She released her breath when she felt that her body was solidly planted in a safe place. Reaching out, she struggled to pull open one of the door. As she pulled the one, the other followed suit in opening. Thankfully the doors stayed put so she could slip through them.

On the other side, she was surprised by the cleaner white hallways with white linoleum floors. Lily was further surprised by the lack of guards. The elevator doors faced directly down a hallway. At the end of the hallway, Lily could see a small figure dressed in orange. When her vision adjusted to the light, he was taken aback by the sight of the lamb who was once the mayor of Zootopia. "Bellwether?"

Bellwether reached up into her wool and pulled out a pin. She held the pin near her wrist. "You better surrender. Or else."

Lily noticed the taming collar around her neck. _The black box._ Lily furrowed her brow. The sheep seemed to be no threat. "Listen. I have to get to Whiplash. We don't have to fight."

"Not surrendering, eh? Fine." She jabbed the pin into her wrist and fell to all fours.

"That can't be good." Lily watched as Bellwether began to steam and expand until she was nearly four times her original height, even bigger. Lily had heard of animals using steroids to build muscles, but this was like nothing she had ever seen before.

Bellwether looked up and snarled at Lily. Standing up, she wrenched her neck side to side to let loose a drumroll of pops that sent a shiver down Lily's spine.

Lily quickly grabbed for the black box that TNT had given her. As Bellwether came running at her, she slammed her thumb down on the black box's trigger.

Bellwether screeched at the top of her lungs at a deafening volume that made Lily's heart ache.

Lily forced herself to move past the giant mass that twisted and screamed at the pain induced by the taming collar. Lily ran beyond the screams. She could see the infirmary sign at the end of the hallway. It brought her to run all the more faster. Bursting through the infirmary doors she saw her husband, Adam, in the last bed by the window.

"The infirmary!"

Lily saw the pile of guards hurtling her way past Bellwether, who had returned to normal size. She slammed the infirmary door shut and locked it. Using a quick burst of her magic she fused the lock shut. The guards rapped on the doors as Lily went into a full on sprint towards Adam.

Skidding to a halt Lily ran her paws over his face. "Adam?" Raspy breaths shuffled in and out of him, fogging up the tube that was taped into his nose. Gently stroking his face, Lily tried to wake him. But, he remained unconscious. Looking over his left shoulder, Lily could see where the bandages once were. His fur had been shaved off there for the purpose of bandaging the wound. Looking around a now smaller pad, Lily could see that his veins and arteries had blackened.

The infirmary doors burst open. "Stop right there!"

Lily threw up her magical barrier yet again which was pelted by hundreds of darts. "No." She was too late to escape with Adam so she wouldn't get caught. The force field used up the energy she would have needed to travel back the way she came. As long as the guards were there to stop her, she couldn't heal Adam if she let go of her force field. "Please!"

"Hold your fire!" A small but mighty voice called out. "Let me through."

"But sir-"

"That is an order," the voice commanded.

Lily watched as the guards parted for the mammal in charge. Who it was, surprised Lily. She watched as a suited light grey jack rabbit stepped through the crowd of guards as he straightened his tie.

"Ah. So, you're the intruder." The jack rabbit cocked his head as he looked Lily's way. "Magic? Wait, I remember hearing about you. The Phoenix. You were there helping Whiplash take on the Raven. I must say it's been a long time. But, Whiplash claimed no connection to you. Though judging by the whip on your hip, I'd say there's a connection after all." The jack rabbit began to pace. "So, why are you here?"

"I can save him!" Lily blurted out. "I can save him."

"Really?" The jack rabbit furrowed his brows in suspicion. "You took down three of my people, evaded about all of our guards, so forgive me if I'm a little confused."

Lily knew that if she held her barrier up for too long, she wouldn't be able to save Adam. "I'm sorry, but please, I can help him." Lily felt the world collapsing in on her as the jack rabbit seemed unmoved. "I can't heal him if I keep this shield up any longer. Please don't let him die!"

The jack rabbit stood there and said nothing.

"Please! Call off your men!"

"I don't believe you. How do I know that if I order them to stand down, you won't simply attack."

Lily could feel her heart screaming out of her chest. She was running out of time, energy. A groan turned her attention to Adam.

"Lil-y. Lil-" Adam's paw searched blindly around the bed.

Lily shook her head at the jack rabbit. "Do what you will." Carefully reaching over to Adam, Lily dropped the barrier. " _Purge la maladie!"_ Lily forced what power was left in her into Adam.

The wolf screamed as the darkness in him retracted. He could feel it being yanked out of him as power flossed his body. It was as if lengths of piano wire were drawn from every vein and artery. It all billowed up in his throat until he turned over his bedside and spewed black matter onto the floor.

Once it was out of him, Lily grabbed water from the side table and rinsed his mouth. Using the bed sheet, she furiously wiped his mouth. When she was sure she had gotten it all, she helped him lay back in the bed. She finally found the courage to breath as she saw her husband's eyes open, at last. Looking up she saw the jack rabbit with his fist in the air holding the fire of the security guards.

"Is he alright?"

Lily nervously nodded. "He should be."

The jack rabbit kept his fist in the air. Looking back, he glared at the guards. "Stand down." One by one, the guards lowered their tranquilizer rifles. "You just saved one of my most valuable assets. For that, I thank you."

Lily sighed as she looked down at Adam. "There's a but in that sentence."

"Yes." The jack rabbit clasped his paws behind his back. "Because you illegally infiltrated this facility, don't expect to get away with it."

Lily nodded. "As long as Adam is safe, I will accept the consequences."

Adam finally registered who was standing over him. "W-what are you doing here?" His eyes darted over to the jack rabbit and began well up. "Jack." He saw the guards standing, ready to apprehend the intruder. "No, please. Let the Phoenix go."

"Adam," Jack sighed, "you know what needs to happen."

Adam desperately fought his weakness to rise. "Please. No! I'll take the punishment, add to my debt. Just let the Phoenix go!"

Lily stared at Adam. "Debt?" She looked to Jack. "What debt?"

Jack took in a deep breath. "I'm sure, Phoenix, that you're aware of the famous deeds of the vigilante Whiplash. But, mammals cannot take the law into their hands. Instead of sending him to jail, I convinced my superiors to allow him to serve his sentence through service to the government. It's an offer I'm willing to extend to you, if you choose except it."

Lily's mind muddled over all that she had just heard. For ten years, her husband had been serving in the Empire so as to avoid going to jail. He had been hiding this from her, so they could have a family, a life. The anger Lily held for her husband was suddenly redirected towards the jack rabbit. "Do you know who I am?"

Before Jack could answer, his eyes widened as Lily removed her mask. "Oh."

 _SLAP_

Jack nearly fell over from the sudden strike of Lily's paw. He clumsily held up a fist to stop the guards from firing.

"So, you're the reason my husband had to lie to me about what he's been up to for the last ten years?" Lily wished that the full strength of her magic was back so she could send Jack flying into some unknown realm.

"Lily." Adam tried again to rise from the bed. "Lily, don'-," he tumbled off the edge of the bed, prompting Lily to rush to his side.

"Sit down in that bed. I've still got half a mind to slap you upside the head for not telling me what's been going on."

Jack nervously smiled. "Actually, I ordered him not tell you."

Lily eye's nearly rolled into the back of her head as she jabbed a finger at Jack. "Stop digging your grave even deeper."

Behind the guards, TNT and Crystal watched from a safe distance. "That's wifey?"

TNT pursed his lips together. "Eyup."

"Oh." Crystal dizzily leaned against TNT. "Wifey scary."

Bitter silence rested on Mr. and Mrs. Wolff. An agreement had been made that neither were happy with, but it was what it was. Neither could smile with the uneasy reality that had settled upon them both. Now, they both were in a debt of, what could be considered, a cruel nature. It is one thing to serve your country, but it is another entirely when you are bound into that service. Adam and Lily were both bound to the service of the Empire. It was something neither of them wanted, and yet, they could still accept it with the sliver of hope that reminded them that their family would still be safe, somewhat.

"A catch 22." Lily muttered by the bedside in the infirmary. She had dropped her costume now and had returned to the old trench coat that now had a different comfort. It was a soldier's comfort that she had not known in a long time, the comfort of one's uniform. "I think it's apparent now that neither of us were destined to walk away from any of this."

Adam grabbed his wife's paw. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this too."

"I saved your life. Don't be sorry." Lily continued to fight the image of Adam not being there. "Besides, maybe with both of us in the Empire we can watch each other's backs so we can both come home to our children."

Adam smiled a little at that. "I didn't mean that I was sorry you saved me. I'm sorry because I couldn't give you a normal life."

"Adam." Lily held up a paw and allowed sparks of magic to dance into the air from her fingertips. "This life was probably going to find me anyway. And, it seems this life has held you down longer than you thought it would."

Adam pulled Lily in for a quick kiss. "Believe me when I say I would give it all up for you if I could."

"But we can't, because there's consequences now." Lily pressed her forehead into her husbands.

"Catch 22." Adam mumbled. As they separated from each other, he stared at his wife's paws. "So, where'd you learn to remove poison like that?"

Lily felt a wave of guilt brush over her. "Absolutley no more secrets." After a deep breath she went on. "I wasn't gone on a business trip. I had gone searching for information about my powers. What I found led me to a Monastery in the far north."

"A monastery?" Adam asked.

Lily recalled the series of events that had transpired on the adventure she had dubbed a business trip. In a way it was a business trip, it was her business. "It's more of a sanctuary for others like me."

Adam locked his gaze on Lily, his attention undivided. "There's others like you."

"Yes," Lily remembered the mammals who had been so kind in welcoming her to the Monastery, "there couldn't be more than a hundred. But, not all of them have the same power that I have. Some possess small portions of magic. Then there's the very few, like me. A white tiger, Stephen Ajanabee, their leader, they called him the physician. He taught me some things about my past. I mean, my family's strange history."

Adam laughed a bit. "Strange family history? Welcome to club, we got jackets."

Lily couldn't help but laugh at that as well. "Like I said. Neither of us were ever allowed to be normal. But, yeah... Remember your family heirloom?" She gestured to one of the digits of her paw.

"The Wolfenstein ring?"

"Yes." Lily nodded. "Remember the ring my mother gave me with the emblem of the Phoenix? Well it belonged to my ancestor, Zipporah Clawhauser."

Adam's eyes shot wide open. "Wait a minute." Connections formed as excitement swelled up inside him. "As in Zipporah from the Arctic tribe?"

"One of the sevens." They both said simultaneously.

"The rings," Lily began.

Again they spoke at the same time. "The three rings."

Lily concentrated her magic. In a instant flash of pink light, both of their rings appeared before them. Adam held his up next to Lily's. "They're identical." A small golden spark jumped between the two rings as they touched. Thunder rung across the sky outside. As flashes of lighting followed a downpour that mysteriously seemed to consume the morning sky. The orange glow of the sun through the horizon was still clear through the Rain that fell upon the entirety of Zootopia.

Mayor Swinton shot up in her desk. "No!" She ran to the nearest window and glared angrily at the gold rain lit by the rising sun.

Sebastian nervously poked his head into the mayor's office. "Something the matter, Miss Gloria?"

Swinton scowled at the sky as her face shook with a subtle anger, 'twas as though ghosts she laid to rest and suddenly been sprung from their prison in the deepest darkest depths of some hidden hell. She practically snarled, almost hissed, "Here comes the rain, again."

Sebastian crept out of the office and closed the door, leaving Swinton to herself.

"So, it begins." Swinton yawped as she whacked a vase across the room in complete and utter rage.


	6. Chapter 6

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 6 "I Ran (So Far Away)"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

"Woah, woah, woah!" Caleb threw up his paws in disbelief. "You guys were being serious about that?"

"Yep." Sara nodded as she brought her strawberry milkshake up to her mouth.

Daniel silently laughed in his own head at Caleb's surprise. "No door."

Sara snickered at the sight she recalled. "He left the hinges though, which was weird."

"He'll slowly turn them if I'm in my room. They squeak." Daniel couldn't deny that his father was certainly creative with punishment. The hinges stayed behind. It would have been too clean to take the door and hinges off. That way there was a subtle detail that was psychologically unnerving. Daniel almost used his milkshake to toast to his father's skill at mind games.

The three had been sitting at Spanky's Diner, a spot they all frequently visited ever since they had access to the high inducing green paper that was money. Caleb would usually pay for himself _and_ his sister, since she was not yet employed. Caleb worked at the Bug-Burga down the street. He was on his lunch break. As was Daniel, who worked at the very diner they sat in. Daniel had known the owner since he was a baby. An old family friend he was, who was more than happy to hire him.

"Wait." Caleb stared down his sister. "How do _you_ know this? Were you sneaking into his room at night again?

Sara nearly snorted her milkshake through her nose. "Caleb! I was just checking on him."

Caleb squinted his eyes and puckered his lips as he comedically nodded. " _Right_. Just...checking."

"Will you grow up?" Sara spat.

"I'm the oldest." Caleb shrugged as he looked over to Daniel. "Hey, you've been really quiet, what's up?'

Daniel's mind was locked on the speech he had listened to over the radio when he was working the other day. "The whole Empire thing."

"Superheroes. Pfft." Caleb shook his head as he wiped his mouth with the scratchy brown paper napkin he retrieved from the dispenser. "It's probably a hoax. One of those political stunts to get attention."

"Or steer away attention." Sara chimed in, wiping her face of strawberry milkshake. "But, it'd be pretty cool if there was a group of superheroes like that."

Daniel smiled at Sara's kind attempt to entertain his interest in the subject. It was a genuine gesture compared to her brother's equally genuine gesture of honest opinion. Though, there was more than conversation at work, there was something more earnest about Sara's input. "Yeah, it would be pretty cool." He couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Hey, Daniel." Sara seemed to twist in her seat, a hidden ounce of discomfort leaked through that Daniel noticed. "Did I leave anything in your room?"

Daniel froze in his own way that was not at all obvious to many others outside the small group that was his parents and little sister. He didn't go rigid, rather, he became overly relaxed and natural. Luckily he had already been enveloped in this state, allowing the change in his demeanor to go unnoticed. "I didn't see anything."

Sara was hesitant to press the matter further as she said no more. The wolf merely smiled politely and gave a quick nod.

Daniel knew what she was looking for. The little plastic baggie with the blue powder, only she hadn't left it there. Daniel had stolen it, out of fear, worry? He didn't quite know yet. Maybe it was just chalk or dry brush dust for painting, but something else told him it was something else. Whatever it was, Daniel could see its absence put Sara on edge.

Caleb leaned over and whispered something in his sister's ear, something Daniel could only guess to be a crude comment he wouldn't speak aloud. Whatever it was, it merited a sharp punch the arm from Sara. "Caleb, you're such a pig!"

Just then, an old pig rolled out of the kitchen on a wheelchair with a big old grin on his face. "Someone mention me?"

Daniel haphazardly saluted his boss. "Hey Spanky."

"Daniel mah boy, finishing up with lunch?"

"Yes sir." Daniel stood up and collected the empty milkshake glasses. "Is your ankle feeling any better?"

The pig laughed. "Not at all." Spanky was the owner of the diner and the family friend that had so graciously hired Daniel. He had broken his ankle moving packages of kitchen supplies. But, neither that nor his age stopped him from running his business. "How d'ya like my new wheels."

"Very nice sir." Daniel smiled at the bright red wheels of Spanky's wheelchair. The pig had been getting around on crutches, but they had been hurting his shoulders awfully bad.

Spanky was about to say something else, that would have been more jovial, but his face sunk into a trancelike form that fixated on what Daniel had said. It was the second time Daniel said it, but only the first time Spanky noticed it. The pig worked up the word and repeated it, "Sir…" It was partially a question.

Daniel, under the innocent scrutiny of his friends' eyes and Spanky's, lamely nodded. "Yessir." He awkwardly coughed after her realized he had mashed his words together. Clearing his throat further, he repeated himself. "Yes, sir."

Caleb and Sara watched probably, if not - just as, as confused as Daniel.

A weak smile fluttered on and off of Spanky's face. "Sorry kid, it's just, you sounded like your father when he was your age." The pig backed up. "I -uh. You know what, take another five or ten minutes for lunch." With that, Spanky made his escape, yelling at the wildebeest who was burning some unidentifiable slop on the stove. "Dangit Dwight!"

It was Caleb who broke the would be silence. "Woah, that was-."

"-interesting." Sara finished her brother's sentence with a more polite choice of word.

Daniel's nose flared as he set the milkshake glasses back down and sat once again across from his friends. A sense of bitterness swelled up inside him. He held no serious ill willed feelings towards his father. The wolf had raised him after all. Daniel tried and tried to figure out some rational reason as to why there was this growing discord between them. Maybe it was as he said it. He was thoroughly convinced that his father would never understand, as all young people suppose. Such is the cycle of life, not so easily mended in the minds of the young.

Caleb's phone began to chirp out some preprogrammed jingle. "Well, I got to go. Those cricket patties ain't gonna flip themselves." He side hugged his sister with one arm before heading for the door. "Bye sis, see ya Daniel."

Daniel weakly waved as he was still caught in his thoughts. He watched Caleb head on his way to his job. _Is this it_ , Daniel thought, _just working our minimum wage jobs to pay for college just so we get another job to afford an easier life?_ It seemed ludicrous to Daniel. _I have to be here for a reason._ He could feel the desire again, to run and fight. By no stretch did he believe it would be easy. He knew it would just be easier to save up for college, get credits in classes he'd never care for, and settle down somehow like his _father_. It'd be _easier_.

"Daniel?"

Sara's voice freed Daniel from the trap of his own thoughts. He barely noticed her paw brushing over his still bandaged arm.

"You okay?"

Daniel couldn't lie, not to Sara. "I don't know." He wish he did. He'd even take no as an answer. At least then it'd be an answer. Instead though, his mood was stuck in the limbo of uncertainty. Looking at Sara he could see by her face that she was fixing to say something.

"Daniel, I," there was an idea scrambling to be translated through her lips, maybe a confession, "I get that it's not easy." It was a confession alright. Daniel knew that. He supposed this was her confession that she didn't know either.

"Sara." Daniel stared at her paw which still feathered over his bandaged arm. "I just feel like I was meant for something bigger. I know how stupid that sounds."

"No," Sara squeaked as she leaned in, "it's not stupid that you feel that way."

Daniel stared up at one of the corner buildings. He imagined seeing Whiplash perched there with his paw stretched out, inviting him to the call of heroism, purpose. "Everyone else seems to think so. I just-," no words were left. He couldn't lie about his power, so he elected to withhold that information. It wasn't lying, it was just missing context. "Thanks for listening, Sara." Daniel gave the best smile he could muster for his friend.

Sara smiled in turn, now holding his hand. "Always."

Daniel could see something behind Sara's facade. Maybe like him, she too was withholding something. His brain flickered over to the blue powder. He would find out what was bothering her, in time.

"See ya tomorrow kid!" Spanky waved to Daniel from behind the glass of the now locked front door to the diner. The pig flipped the sign hanging on the door from _open_ to _closed_.

Daniel weakly waved as he zipped up his green hoodie. How he was dressed would seem particularly strange to any animal that didn't know the _why_. Whenever he picked up night shifts he'd often run home in the dark after work. His clothing catered to this. He wore a red bandana over his lower face to stop any flying insects from getting inhaled at ridiculous speeds. To help his eyes, he wore yellow lensed motorcycle goggles. The yellow lenses actually did help his vision at night as advertised at the gas station he had bought them at a while back. His most recent addition was the green hoodie that kept him warm in the freezing resistance of the air.

Underneath it all, Daniel wore a light stretchy blue tracksuit. It was the only thing, thus far, that could last through extensive abuse (extensive being a _jog_ home in Daniel's case). The deer was about ready to zoom off when he heard a scream.

Silence.

 _Probably nothing,_ Daniel thought. He was about ready to bolt home when he heard the scream again.

Echo manifested on Daniel's shoulder. " _That doesn't sound like nothing."_

Daniel groaned before swiftly sneaking along the street about half a block. The voice that matched the scream was fearfully begging about something incoherent to Daniel. Another voice, a gruff voice, dominated presence over the squeaking of the voice that no longer screamed, only whimpered. Peeking down the alleyway, Daniel saw that the one who screamed was a doe. The gruff voice belonged to a ram brandishing a knife.

"You heard me missy!" The ram jabbed his knife, a switchblade, in the air in front of the doe's face.

"Please, I gave you all my money," her voice cowered at the knife that flickered in the moonlight.

The ram backed her into a brick wall. "Yessa, and I want dat fancy gold piece hangin' 'bout yer neck too!"

"Please," the doe continued to beg, "It's my grandma's, it's all I have left-"

"I don't care!" The ram thrust his fist up to the doe's neck, eliciting a scream as he scraped some of her fur off with the switchblade.

" _What are you going to do..."_

Daniel felt his heart racing as he looked around. A spectator from an apartment window closed their blinds,turning up their television to drown out the sound. A homeless mammal pushed his grocery cart faster in the opposite direction…

" _...stand idly by?"_

"Stop!" Daniel marched down the alleyway. The ram ignored him, his eyes full of goldlust. "I said stop!"

The ram grunted as he snapped his head around to face the one who had interrupted his mugging. "Eh, jogger. Mind yer own business."

The doe cried. "Please, help-"

"Quiet you!" The ram pressed his fist further against the doe's neck.

"Let-her-go." Daniel walked all the way up to the ram, standing his ground.

"Listen, bud," the ram snapped his digits which prompted two other rams to appear, "I gave ya da chance to walk away."

The two other rambs stepped out of the dark and circled Daniel. "Hey b'oss. Get a load of this buck." While the one distracted Daniel, the other tore the right sleeve of his hoodie, exposing the blue sleave of the tracksuit.

Daniel snorted through the red bandana. "You might want to rethink your next moved."

The other ripped off his hoodie's left sleeve. "Or what, horn head?"

Daniel sighed as he clicked his tongue. "Actually."

A whipping gust of winds swept up both of the rams who, daze by the wind, struggled to regain their footing. They promptly fell over, smacking into the pavement. "What the?" They both marveled at the fact that their pants had been pulled down to their ankles.

"They're antlers." Daniel felt something in his mind snap. Some truth filled his brain. A perfect storm of fear and fulfillment swamped his senses. Thoughts from earlier sprung back up. _It'd be easier..._ Yes, a normal life would be easier. And, this path he undoubtedly was going down, would be harder. He had the power, and he could not sit idly by. He had the power to stop these rams. If he were to walk off like everyone else, he knew he couldn't live with himself. "This is your chance to go quietly."

Echo's voice whispered in Daniel's mind. " _The easier wrong, or the harder right?"_

The first ram let go of the doe and turned his knife towards Daniel. "You're gettin' what's coming to ya!" The ram lunged his knife at Daniel only to fumble further forward at empty air. "Whathe?" The ram turned to find Daniel between him and the doe.

Daniel eyed a broken broom handle sticking out of a dumpster nearby. He yanked it out of the dumpster, twirling it a few times before grasping it defensively with both hands. "Now, give back the money you stole."

The ram growled as the other two pulled their pants back up. "Gett'em boys."

Daniel zoomed past one of the rams. Sweeping the ram's legs sent him flying into a mid air spin. Speeding back, Daniel did the same to the other and ended up back between the doe and the first ramb.

"What?" The ram began to shake at the sight of his associates having been done in by what he understood to be extreme speed. He still couldn't believe it. "You're that guy! But you're-"

"I gave you the chance to walk away." Daniel took one step and the ram dug into his pockets and emptied them onto the ground. Daniel watched as the ram ran past the other two who groggily followed suit. Making sure that the three rams were gone, Daniel bent over and picked up the items. There was cash that had probably been plucked from the wallet that also lay there with a bracelet and earrings. "I believe these are yours, miss."

The doe smiled relentlessly as she carefully accepted the items. "Thank you sir! Bless you!"

Daniel nodded and turned to start off.

"Wait!"

Daniel stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want me to run you home?"

"Oh, uh." The doe nervously tucked her wallet back into her pocket. "I'd hate to impose."

"Nonsense!" Daniel stood next to her. "Where do you live?"

The doe smiled at Daniel. "The Clarabell Apartment complex."

"I'll get you there in five seconds flat." Daniel held her head so she wouldn't get whiplash. Picking her up he ran at a speed he knew wouldn't harm the doe. A rush of wind and lights passed them before Daniel screeched to a halt outside a gate bathed in the blue neon of the sign that identified the Clarabell Apartments.

The doe huffed as she caught her breath, spooked by what had just happened. Her nerves came back as she realized she was just outside home. "Woah."

"I'm sorry I lied to you." Daniel shrugged. "It was four seconds, not five."

The doe laughed at the ridiculousness of what he had said. "It's fine."

Daniel couldn't help but laugh with her a little. Laughter became quiet smiles that evolved then into a soothing silence filled only by the humming of the neon sign. The doe stepped closer. "I'd like to say thank you."

Daniel shrugged his shoulders again. "It was no problem real-," he was cut off when the doe suddenly lifted up his bandana and kissed him. She carefully lowered the bandana back down and stepped away. "Oh."

"Thank you." The doe bashfully looked away.

Daniel's brain was spinning as he felt his legs almost fall asleep and fail him. A burning sensation swelled up in his chest as he couldn't seem to look away from the dow who, now that he could see clearly, looked _pretty_. "Well then. Miss, uh-." _Pretty beautiful._

"Daisy." The doe calmly stated. "My name is Daisy."

"Well," Daniel couldn't believe how bubbly he felt inside, "Miss Daisy. Have a good night."

"Wait!"

This time, Daniel wasn't even irritated that he had been stopped from running off. "Yes?"

Daisy stared at him with sparkling tawny eyes. "Who are you?"

 _Crap!_ A different part of Daniel's brain began to fire up. He couldn't be doing this sort of business and have everyone know his name. If people knew his name, criminals could learn it too. If criminals knew his name, they could certainly find out where he lived. _My family!_ They could harm his family. He thought of the vigilante Whiplash. _An alias,_ Daniel concluded. He struggled to think of something. He didn't want to be called the quickster for the rest of his life. Then, he recalled his ring and the emblem it bear. "I'm the Grasshopper."

Without warning, the Grasshopper darted off, speeding north towards the Rainforest district. He didn't stop. He ran so fast he flew across the water. He built up enough speed and lunged high above the buildings. Jumping across rooftops he made it all the way back to his house and landed just at the edge of the roof. He swung down to his bedroom window and crept inside.

Shedding the goggles and bandana, Daniel huffed and puffed with excitement as he peeled off the hoodie and tracksuit. After stashing it all beneath his bed, he rolled over onto the mattress. Phone in hand, he quickly texted Caleb about his dad's old radio gear, particularly his police scanner.

Daniel sighed as he put his phone on his desk. His his eyes got heavy as he remembered the doe. "Daisy." He laughed. _So, this is it._ Daniel pondered the situation he was in. He was really doing this, being a vigilante, like his hero Whiplash. And on the side, there was this doe, Daisy. Daniel wasn't sure of it. Maybe that was just a fleeting "thank you for saving my life" kiss. And, maybe it wasn't. Daniel didn't care. It was all exciting. This was his world now. He thought back to the broomstick he had used to trip up the rams. Then he remembered the broken rake. _A staff._ Daniel looked and saw the smiling face of Echo, whose light seemed to fluctuate.

"What?" Daniel asked.

Echo smirked. " _You're happy."_

Daniel hummed as he laid his head back on his pillow. _Happy._ He felt something inside, something he had been looking for, but couldn't put a definite name to it. Belonging. There was hope, a meaning to it all. There was a purpose his power could fill after all. Daniel fell asleep with his mind wandering back to Daisy.


	7. Chapter 7

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 7 "Hungry Like The Wolf"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Nick stared at the blacked out windows. "Gee, must be some super secret complex."

"Nick!" Judy snapped in a hushed voice.

"What, fluff? Scared of the big bad G-Mammals?" Nick clicked his tongue and saluted to the grizzly bear and camel who were both clad in black suits, white shirts, black ties, ear pieces, and sunglasses not too different from his own pair. The lenses of their glasses seemed almost as dark as the windows which Nick continued to stare out of. He thought maybe he'd see something. Something familiar. A speck, a dot of heat, that was the sun. Though it's light couldn't be see, at least it could be felt. "So, we're going north then?"

The grizzly quietly snarled.

"Nick!" Judy jabbed him in the side.

"Relax carrot cake. I'm just stating a fact. We're going north." Nick knew this fact based on what he could remember from his brief stint with the junior ranger scouts. The sun rose in the east and set in the west. It was still morning, and the sun's heat was on the passenger's side of the limousine, his side. He hoped that he remembered the direction of the sun right, otherwise he'd face embarrassment down the road. _Up, actually,_ he thought to himself. Regardless, he felt confident in this gamble of a fact. He thought of himself as the gambler every now and then.

Judy, however was no gambler. She kept her proverbial trap shut in the face of the agents that sat across from her and Nick. She had been seasoned with a more substantial respect for authority than her partner.

The limo came to a stop. Some exchange between the driver and outside lead to a muffled buzz followed by the mechanical groans of metal, pistons, and motors. The driver rolled his window back up, an equally noisy action.

Nick casually tapped on the glass of his window. _Bulletproof._ He could tell by the sound, it reminded him of glass windows separating tellers from the outside world, only this stuff was stronger. Bank glass wasn't good enough for these guys. Placing his ear again the glass, Nick could hear a subtle roar that had been muffled by the protective cage of the government limousine. _So this is where my taxpayer dollars go._ Nick half smirked, _pretty cool._

At last, the vehicle came to a halt after circling a quarter of the way.

The doors swung open, flooding Judy and Nick with morning light. Holding a paw up, Judy was quickly able to discern the building towering above them. It's shape was familiar along with the waterfall roaring around them. It had been so long since she'd seen the place, but it's impact on her life remained in tact through the years. "Cliffside?"

Nick felt uncomfortable beneath the shadow of the structure whose dark history confirmed his partner's conclusion. "Yep."

"I thought you'd recognize the place." Both Nick and Judy set their sights on the old jack rabbit who stood with his paws behind his back and his chest puffed out in some strange fashion. "I told them you might, but you know, standard procedure."

Judy recognized the voice of the jack rabbit, but she couldn't quite place it. "Have we met before?"

The jack rabbit smiled as he straightened his blue tie. "The name's Savage, Jack Savage."

Nick weakly laughed. "You wouldn't happen to know a _Frank_ Savage, would you?"

"Hm." Jack's lips curled as he cleared his throat. "Now that's a name I've not heard in a long, long time."

Nick tilted his head. "Wait, no." The fox narrowed his gaze on Jack. "Phil? My old neighbor?"

Jack cleared his throat again, this time to change his voice. "Hehehe, ya always was my favorite, Nicky Boy." Both Nick and Judy lost control of their sagging jaws at the sound of the wiley hyena from the FBI that they had met so long ago. "Whut? Y'all thought I'd died a sumthin'?" Jack cleared his voice once more and grumbled a bit. "My goodness, I had forgotten the strain that voice came with. Yes, it's me. Frank is actually my _middle_ name. One of them at least."

"What are these forms for again?" Judy looked over the twenty three pages of legal jargon she had signed her name to.

Jack accepted Nick's signed copy as well as Judy's. "Legalities. Such and such stuff, saying that you won't disclose the names, faces, and or identities of any person, body, etcetera, etcetera." Jack handed the paperwork off to another animal before leading the two officers into the main conference room. "Though, some of them you know already."

Judy and Nick both froze at the sight of the group gathered around the table.

Peter Hogbop, they knew as the rampaging boar with explosives that nearly killed them both. He merely clicked his tongue, and half saluted. "Evening, officers. No hard feelings I hope."

Adam and Lily Wolff were perhaps the only smiling faces. The wolf and snow leopard both waved weakly.

Dawn Bellwether scowled with the corners of her mouth so low, Judy could see her spit in the imaginary prison spatoon in her head.

Neither recognized the floating kepi, button up, and cut off shorts. Though the sight was more than unnerving for Judy, Nick just smirked like it was yet again another day at the office. Raising a finger he went down the line. "Almost killed us, almost arrested you, used you to try to arrest him, arrested you after you almost killed us," Nick hummed as he came to the floating set of clothes, "I think it's transparent that we don't know you, really hoping you're not someone we've inconvenienced in the past, otherwise this would be really uncomfortable."

Jack laughed as he walked up to the table, his paw stretched out. "Fifty dollars, Crystal."

"Twenty five." Crystal produced a five and a twenty which _appeared_ to float into Jack's paw. "He made an invisible joke. I thought you said this guy had taste."

Adam elbowed Peter. "If you please?" The boar groaned as he fished out a bunch of crumpled bills. "Five, ten, twenty, thirty. Thanks." The wolf handed the cash to his wife. "Lunch money."

Nick pursed his lips as he slowly stuck his paw out to Judy. "Twenty bucks."

Judy backed away from her partner as she looked him up and down. "For what?"

"Darn." Nick snapped his fingers. "It was going around, I thought it'd work." He laughed as judy slapped his paw away.

Crystal hummed as she handed Jack the other twenty five dollars. "So, these are the official officers we're to coordinate with?"

Judy's ears went up. "Coordinate?"

"Ah," Jack smiled, "Old Bogy doesn't tell you much. Typical Bogo."

Nick and Judy both looked at each other, confused. Judy finally piped up. "Bogo's Retired. It's Chief Tigre now."

"Oh." Jack's ears dropped as his head darted to Adam. "Mr. Wolff, you'll take it from here." That was a command, not a request. Jack departed from the conference room, leaving behind a very confused wolf at the helm.

Adam stood up as if to be cordial. His eyes wandered to where his upper had just stood, bewildered by his urgent departure. "Alright. I guess we'll just proceed without Agent Savage." He gestured to empty seats around the table. "Please, sit."

Nick and Judy both cautiously say down closer to each other than anyone else around the table. Nick nervously mimicked the boar's earlier actions by clicking his tongue and saluting. Judy struggled to smile at Bellwether who flared at her with absolute disgust and hatred. Nick graciously took the two files Peter handed him. He passed one of them to Judy.

"So," Judy began, "what exactly is this?"

"You've been selected as the coordinating officers for the cooperation treaty instigated by Mayor Swinton as written under section A of article 113."

"Wow," Judy reread the same paragraph over and over again, "you're going to be assisting the police?"

"Some of us. We'll be pretty split between government missions and aiding the general public." Adam explained. "However, we need to recruit a few more helping hands so we don't take on two fronts."

Judy remembered some gibberish he heard from a preaching donkey about how _Ye cannot serve two masters!_ She joked to herself, even if it was a bit lame, _Ye cannot fight both fronts!_ "So, that's our first order of business then. Rounding up more 'supers' as it were."

"Wait a minute." Nick pointed at Lily. "I get why your hubby is here, but why are you here?" Lily drew a glowing circle on the desk. Raising it and rotating it so Nick could see, she twirled her finger inside it which sent a gust of wind at the fox. Nick puckered his mouth and raised his brows. "Okay, then."

"So, these recruits." Judy spoke again, "did you have any ideas?"

Adam opened up his file and gestured to Nick and Judy's. "It's all in there."

Nick hummed as he flipped through the pages. "Please tell me you have some hairless bipedal missing link, because, not gonna lie, that would be awe-," Nick stopped at the one he instantly recognized, "oh brother. This guy? The Moth? Seriously?"

"Nick," Judy cut him off, "he's strung up some of the most high profile drug traffickers in Zootopia. He alone has allowed the police to recover literal tons of the night howler drug."

"You have a point, fluff." Nick set the folder down. "But do we have to call him the Moth? He sounds like a character out of some comic book nerd's bad fanfiction of a good one."

"I resent that remark." Peter chimed in.

Nick just stared at the boar with an uncertainty of how to respond. "How many Whiplash comics do you own. All twenty three of the original issues? Mint condition? And I bet you play Beasts and Battlefields."

"So what!" Peter hollered.

Adam looked at Peter and Nick. "That's enough, from both of you." He looked at just Peter. "B&B?"

"Yeah." Peter grumbled with his arms crossed.

"We'll talk later." Clearing his throat, Adam went back to the matter at hand. "Anyways."

Judy studied the other files in the folder. "The ghost vigilante is at the top of your to do list?."

"Yes," Lily went on, "the ghost has been more so a concern than an interest. He doesn't like cops and has openly attacked them. Sightings of him have been increasing."

Judy passively glanced over the creature and the quickster. "It could take most of our efforts to catch him then. So, why don't we go after the Moth, and if he's willing, he could help us take on the ghost."

"I have no direct objection to that idea." Adam closed his folder. "You seem to know enough about him. Any propositions as where to start looking for him?"

Nick smirked. "Actually, yes. Judy. Is Wolford still doing that undercover trade at the docks?"

"That's right!" Judy lit up. "The Moth is bound to get involved or at least watch to make sure nothing bad happens."

Adam smiled as he looked to Lily. "Are you up for this one?"

Lily grabbed his paw. "You still need to get better." Still holding her husband's paw she looked at Nick and Judy, a subtle uneasiness in her eyes as she had never been on a mission before. But that was a fact unknown to Judy or Nick. "Looks like we'll be working together again."

A peculiar soft laughter filled the doorway. "Just like, how you say, old times? Da. Except, they von't be trying to arrest your love. Niet." The figure had her hooves tucked away in the side pocket's of the yellow stitch black motorcycle jacket she wore. "I apologise for my lateness." Her heavy accent rolled out in a strange tone of indifference. The boar looked around the table and stopped once she saw Peter. "I vas caught in traffic."

Adam stood up to meet the boar. "Agent Einswine. Better late than never."

"Einswine? As in Penelope Einswine?" Nick smiled as he turned in his chair to face the boar. "Still wrecking Challengers?"

"Deshovka Nicolai! They let garbage like you in place like this?" Penelope met Nick with an odd handshake.

Judy looked back and forth between the two of them. "You two know each other?"

"I know everyone." Nick stated. "Including the film industry's finest stunt driver. But, agent?"

"Da. I drive cars for movie stars who can't drive vhen government does not need me." She half muttered and laughed something incoherent. "So, ve are going to catch recruits. Yes?"

It was nearly midnight as the moon cast its glow over the maze of shipping containers that were stacked high near the edges of clear water that now had been glazed with darkness, marred only by the reflection of the moon and what little stars could be seen through the city's light pollution. A number of jaguars and rams dressed in white wife-beaters and flowery island themed shirts rested against the sides of blacked out cars with fake plates.

One of the jaguars sniffed the air. "Smell that?"

"You're imagining things." Their leader, a cheetah in a suit, the only one in a suit, flicked the last bit of his cigar to the ground before kicking it away. He sniffed the air himself, feeling foolish. "Smells like dead fish and piss. Fish piss." A noise alerted his attention. It was just the creaking of the shipping containers. Getting anxious, he popped the trunk of one of the cars to reveal the cloudy blue merchandise. Everything was still in order.

It hadn't been long after the arrest of the former mayor that Night Howler hit the market. It was harmless in smaller doses, some brave soul had figured that out. Liquid soon turned to powder that was to say "watered down" so it didn't make you go savage.

The boss cheetah smiled at all the little packages that had been tightly wrapped in plastic. He closed the trunk and checked his watch. It was analogue, in military time. He never trusted those smartwatches. The government, he figured, was watching him. The time read 23:19. "Eleven twenty."

"Is this deal goin' down or what boss?"

The cheetah sucked on what was left of the cigar's taste in his mouth. "We sho-."

PLINK! PLINK! PLINK!

Three canisters hit the ground which erupted with red gasses that spewed everywhere, consuming the cars and their owners. The cheetah coughed momentarily as he hit the ground. Screaming filled his ears as he looked around for his men. The cheetah felt himself drifting in and out as invisible hot needles pulsated in his brain. He heard a banging. Behind him. Turning the cheetah cowered at the green door that shook violently before his eyes. "No!" He cried. "It's not real!"

But it was real enough to sent him crawling away in terror. The door followed along with the voice of his wretched father. " _Eloise! Where's that son of a-"_ The door began to crack, light spilling through as the banging continued relentlessly.

"No!" The cheetah tried to run, but _it_ broke through. Towering over him was the charred face of his father whose fur sizzled with black smoke. Behind him, the doorway had been filled with roaring flames and the screams of the cheetah's sister. "No."

" _Look what you did boy. Look what you did!"_ The blackened corpse of the cheetah's father spewed fire as his mouth stretched around it's own head. " _Help!"_ The paws of of the cheetah's sister and mother clawed desperately trying to escape the monster devouring them.

"No!" The cheetah stood up. "You're not real!"

The image evaporated in the red smoke, leaving behind something else. " _Maybe it's not,"_ the figure approached, " _but I am."_

The cheetah cowered at the red eyes of the thing that had grabbed his throat. It grabbed his throat! It was real! "Please! Have mercy!"

" _Mercy?"_ The thing smiled a devilish smile filled with angler teeth. His voice was electric with static and muffled sandpaper, " _Did you show Ivy mercy?"_

"Who?" The cheetah pleaded as the thing's red eyes burrowed deeper into his soul.

" _The child you sold Night Howler to."_ It dropped the cheetah and turned to the cars. Popping each trunk open he tossed canisters in before shutting them. White smoke burned the contents of the trunk as the red eyed thing came back to the cheetah who reached for his switchblade. " _Selling to children is low, even for a degenerate like you."_

"Hey man." The cheetah stood up. "It's just business." He flicked out his knife and charged the thing head on. "AH!" It had its paw wrapped around his hand. Blue fire pulsed through his fingers into the cheetah who now wept as his body went limp from the shock that pulsated through him. His vision became more warped as the thing's mouth grew bigger with its eyes. Big Red Eyes. Now it was upon him, roaring in his face. "What are you?"

" _And the shepard beheld the seer, the teller of darkness, the bearer of tragedy and mis fortune. Behold that dark creature of revelation, the MOTH cometh."_

The cheetah blacked out.

From a distance Nick Wilde put down his binoculars as he grabbed at his coffee. "Well there's something you don't see every day."

" _Officer Wilde, what do you see?"_ His walkie buzzed on his belt.

"Phoenix, I can only imagine what our jaguar friend is seeing in all that _crazy_ gas, but I _can_ see our guy is wearing a gas mask."

Closer to the scene of action, Lily Wolff, the Phoenix was making her way over the shipping container maze. "I got eyes on him." She jumped. "Okay, _chemin de la lumière_." Light swelled out from each step she took in the air. Focusing on her eyes, she sifted through the spectrums of light until she found what she was looking for. She could see the outline of the Moth's body as he tied up the still screaming henchmen. A whiff of something got to Lily. The gas! Her magic wasn't blocking it!

" _Lily."_ The Phoenix knew the voice. How, but, she was gone. " _Lily, why did you kill me."_ Her friend, Kit Fawkes, who had been the Raven, that villain, who devastated Zootopia. She turned and saw the stretched out body of the fox who had almost been the end to the world. " _Why did you throw me away! For him!?"_ The fox's arms fell off, spewing blue night howler serum everywhere. The phoenix misplaced her step and was now falling. She fell hard enough to dent the thin roof of one of the cars. Thankfully she cushioned the landing with a quick magic burst. " _Lily! I'll kill them for what you did to me!"_ The Phoenix nearly screamed when she saw the bodies, her husband, her son, her daughter, all splayed out on the ground, dead. _No_ , Lily cast out the images. She could see the Moth getting away. "No, _épuration._ "

The red gas parted and a gas masked mammal stared back at the Phoenix. The eyes of his mask really did glow red. The black rubber mask had two hoses that traveled on both sides to filters mounted on the back of his vest which clearly said RIOT. Of course, he ran.

The Phoenix groaned as she ran after him. Getting close, she saw how big he really was. Tail, it was a wolf's. "The Moth is a wolf!" The Phoenix huffed into her earpiece.

" _Keep on him. We're coming in."_

The Phoenix kept up her pace as she chased the Moth into the shipping container maze. Closer than before, she could see he really was tall, even for a wolf. There was an opening, there in the distance, was a black motorcycle. The bigger they are…

The Phoenix stopped and thrust out her paws. " _Mur!_ "

The moth smacked to a stop as he bounced off an ethereal brick wall that vanished the moment he hit the ground.

In her haste to reach him, the Phoenix missed the small pistol the Moth had drawn.

POP!

She felt the projectile stick into her shoulder before she lost all control of her body. The Phoenix fell to the ground as electricity ravaged her muscles.

As the Moth stood up, he turned at a whistle that was followed by a red gloved fist. "Nobody, zapps my wife like that." Whiplash quickly cuffed the moth and rushed to the Phoenix. Extracting the taser projectile, he cradled her in his arms. "I got you."

"I thought you weren't coming." The Phoenix finally spat out. "You're supposed to be resting!"

Whiplash eased her up, slowly. "I'll always be there for you."

Screeching tires came to a halt as a black van drove up alongside Whiplash, the Phoenix, and the Moth. The doors popped open. "Aw! That vasn't much of a chase!"

"You'll get your chase someday." Nick waved to Judy who was now with three other officers, confiscating the bike and loading it up into another black van. "So, let's meet the Moth." Nick hesitantly approached the large wolf who groaned. One of the lenses in his mask had been cracked from the impact with the magical wall the Phoenix conjured up. Nick pretended it was actually from that stellar punch on Whiplash's behalf. He reached down and peeled off the rubber gas mask.

Behind the mask was dull gray fur that had lost its shine. The face was broken up by dirty white fur that framed faded green eyes that had flecks of brown, the discoloring that came with age and stress. Despite the wolf's rugged appearance, he smiled an almost charming toothy smile nonetheless. "Does anyone have any orange slices?"

Nick looked the wolf up and down. "Oh."

"Let me guess," Whiplash sighed as he helped the Phoenix up, "you know everyone?"

Nick looked over to his partner. "Judy, you'll want to see this."

The rabbit's ears fell down as she cast her gaze over the wolf. "Oh."

The wolf grimaced as he twisted the cuffs around his wrists. "Don't sound so excited to see me."

Nick groaned. "I know you wanted to catch the mammals responsible for you brother's death, but I never thought you'd go this far, Hunter."

The Phoenix limped over to Nick and Judy with Whiplash's help. "You know him."

Judy nodded. "Yeah. Just about every cop knows the Hunter family, especially Vernon."

Adam Wolff smiled at Vernon hunter who still rubbed his jaw. They sat in an interrogation room with white padded walls "It's curious that you would go parading around in a dead mammal's clothes. Stolen clothes at that." He fingered over the name patch. "Who's Wade?"

Vernon said nothing, verbally at least.

Adam threw the riot vest off to the side.

Vernon's gaze followed it.

 _Finally,_ Adam thought, _getting somewhere._ "I know who he was. The only officer that was actually killed during the attack from Novus Purificatio. Officer Hunter jumped in front of his partner to save her life. Now, the mammal responsible for his death was put in prison. Then he escaped. And as I understand it, he was beaten near to death by some rogue vigilante in a black hood wearing Officer Hunter's riot vest. The mammal swore that the ghost of wade hunter had come back from the grave to exact his revenge. I imagine there might be quite the resemblance between siblings to make that guy believe Officer Hunter crawled out of hell."

Vernon finally broke his line of sight with the vest and looked at Adam. "What do you want?"

"Personally," Adam shrugged, "I just wanted to know why you've still been fighting criminals when you already caught the one that killed your brother seven years ago?"

Vernon huffed with a twitching smile at the corner of his mouth. "I've only been good for two things in this world, fighting and scaring mammals." Vernon half smiled to show off his teeth that weren't entirely unimpressive to Adam, another wolf.

"You were going to be an architect," Adam fingered through a file with pictures and notes about Vernon. "You dropped out of college. Well, I didn't know architects were skilled at souping up V twin motorcycles so they could outrun even the best interceptors, or creating potent hallucinogens for that matter. And the wings we found loaded on your bike, impressive."

"I watch a lot of YouTube tutorials." Vernon smirked. "And, I know people."

Adam nodded. "Fair enough. Why do they call you the Moth."

Vernon sat up straight, making himself that much taller than Adam. "The moth is drawn to the light in the darkness, just as I have clung to the last beacons of hope in this cruel world. But, joy has always been out of my grasp. Hope, happiness, love, I learned that I could never have it. I guess they call me the moth because they know. All the evil hiding in the darkness stays away from the light, because they know. The Moth is there. Drawn to it, drawn to defend it." Vernon shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I read that in an article somewhere. I'm not smart enough to come up with this philosophical crap. I just scare the bejesus out of mammals on the wrong side of the law."

Adam smiled as he took down some notes. "There are some people in high places that like what you've been doing, drug busting and hogtying criminals. That sort of stuff looks good on this particular resume." He leaned back in his chair. "Why did you continue to help mammals for so long."

"You asked me that question already."

Adam shrugged. "I rephrased it for a reason. What's the real reason you've kept going?"

Vernon looked to his brother's swat vest again. Perhaps in his mind, the ghost of his brother really was with him. "Because I made a difference. And, I know that's what he always wanted to do. My brother always wanted to make a difference. He's not here to do that, so I chose to do it for him."

Adam pressed a button that released the magnetic shackles that held Vernon to the table. "Mr. Hunter, we are in need of animals in the line of your particular work. You've made quite the impact of the underworld and the blackmarket. It's an impact that cannot be ignored. We would like to facilitate you activities."

Vernon eyes shot up in realization. "You're offering me a job?"

"Surely you've heard the news, it's all over the internet and every channel on TV."

Vernon rubbed the back of his neck as he shrugged. "I read the paper, but haven't read it in a while."

Adam reached down and presented a newspaper to Vernon. "Go ahead."

Vernon rubbed his wrists before carefully accepting the paper, testing the waters. "Mayor Swinton Announces…" Vernon lost himself in the words. "Wait, seriously?" Adam nodded to him. "You want me to join this _posse_ of yours?"

"Comes with pretty unique benefits that your local Bug Burga won't offer you." Adam tapped his fingers on the table as he fished around for more to say. "We can provide room and board, and our scientists here will even help you upgrade your equipment to _enhance_ your work performance."

Vernon hummed as he thought about it. "Can I keep my brother's vest?"

It was one of the most sincere questions Adam had ever heard. It struck him deep as he recalled a very young version of himself, sifting through the ashes of his home to find what was left of his family's belongings, old and new. "I'll arrange for that."

Vernon didn't smile, but there was something else, a vote of confidence and respect radiated from his very face as he seemed to express adoration and mutual trust. He held his paw out to Adam. "Count me in."

Adam smiled as he remembered a similar moment between himself and Agent Jack Savage. "Vernon Hunter, welcome to the Empire." The wolves shook hands.

Dawn Bellwether was sulking about the building again. She heard some of the guards talking about the new recruit that had come around. _Great_ , she thought, _another pred_. For the first time in a long time, the words of hate had soured. She couldn't believe it. Predators had and always would be her reason for suffering. Even if that were true, she was running out of faith in that department. How? It was a simple conclusion. It was too much energy to hate anyone. And then she remembered the bracelet. The boy. The one her father so adamantly ridiculed her about. The beads still echoed as they fell between the floorboards of her drifting memories that were beginning to die along with her father. He was dead now though, her father. He had been stopped by the Empire in his own personal attempt to revamp what she started. Another nighthowler attack in response to the Novus Purificatio uprising. Of course, it failed. It failed just like Novus Purificatio's plan to enslave prey animals. They both failed, though their objective's differed, their core existence was the same. Evil was always evil.

Had she become that? He destiney boud her to be a slave to the good. That was where she was different from the rest of the Empire. In her heart there was that irrational hate, that was failing. It was failing as evil always had.

Dawn recalled the boy, the one whose name escaped her, but whose eyes were so gentle. _He's dead too_ … She squeaked at the door that had flung open and almost hit her. She scowled up at the buffoon who had almost smacked a door in her face. It was the wolf, the new recruit. Whoop-de-do! She was so ready to blow up in his face, so ready!

"Oh, pardon me miss. I'm sorry I almost got ya with the door."

Bellwether had gotten used to a way of being treated. _MISS?_ No one had referred to her with even that amount of dignity as to call her Miss. It was alway IT or THING and the code name she hated. Knockout. KO. Another first in ten years also…

"You alright?" The wolf that towered over her at more than twice her height wasn't Adam. It was some new face.

Dawn had gotten used to other's fearing her, not the other way around. A flicker of doubt wondered if the _other_ girl would be even as tall as this wolf. _Alright?_ She tried to shout out something like, _out of my way pred!_ But instead, "...uh."

Adam Wolff stepped from behind the "newcomer" and gave a simple, authoritative glare down at Dawn. "Bellwether, this is our new recruit, Vernon Hunter.

"Vernon." She repeated. There was something odd about him that Dawn noticed. A familiarity. A flash in her brain saw something a strange image of the wolf, Vernon, holding his hand out to her. She was smiling in this little vision as he put on her glasses for her. Evil dies hard. "Just stay out of my way, pred." She scowled as she pushed passed the wolves. Dawn refrained from looking back. _What was that?_ She pondered over the vision. _Where had it come from?_ She suspected it was nothing more than a bored fantasy, a day dream of peculiar manifestation spawned from some subconscious machine like act. But, it had been real. A time it was, no, a when. It was a different when, maybe.

Dawn betrayed her instincts and turned to look over her shoulder. Vernon was staring her way.

Peter looked over the gas mask. "You make this?" The boar flicked the red lights in the lenses on and off. "It's pretty cool." He dropped the mask back into the corrugated plastic box with the rest of Vernon's possessions.

Vernon followed Peter closely as he looked at the key and key card he had been given. "HB put it together for me."

"Looks like good work. Maybe you should recommend her to Wolff and Savage." Peter turned down the next hall and clumsily opened a door."

Vernon laughed. "Heh, she's not exactly the type to trust government institutions."

Peter shrugged his shoulders. "In that case, let's keep her to ourselves in case anything goes south. Like an ace up your sleeve, ya dig?" The boar set the box down on one of the two desks that occupied the substantially sized room that also contained two beds and two dressers. The walls were white, the desks stainless steel. Though, the one side of the room seemed almost to have a brown tint around the walls and ceiling in the one desk's corner. "It's not much but a, it's free. My side's a bit cluttered. Just don't touch anything."

Vernon didn't even know if he should breath when he saw a chaotic mess of wires strung between several white masses. "Is that C-4?"

"Nah." The boar dismissively waved his arm as he sat down at the desk, the action causing the contraption to jump with Vernon's heart rate. "It's just play dough. It's just a mock up."

Vernon rested a little easier when he knew the bomb wasn't live. "Thanks for offering to share a room with me, roomie."

"Consider it saving your life from Crystal."

Vernon furrowed his brow as he thought. "The invisible one right? What's wrong with her room?"

Peter slowly turned with one brow cocked. "It's more like a cave, really. Just don't trust her. Adam, you can trust, and even his wife I imagine. Jack's alright, I don't understand him sometimes, but he's cool I guess. And whatever you do, stay out of Knockout's way."

"Knock-out," vernon asked.

Peter sighed as he held his hand above the ground at a certain height. "Little sheep, 'bout yea high. Has the look of _I will cut you_ behind her glasses."

"Miss Bellwether?" Vernon folded his arms, almost amused. "Is she like a wooly assassin or something?"

Peter clicked his teeth as he thought about how to phrase it. "Let's just say that she can be a BIG problem sometimes. Oh, and carry this on you." The boar tossed Vernon a little black box.

Vernon felt sick as he handled the box. One of his digits feathered over the big red button, pulling away as thought it had become white hot. "What is this thing?"

"Knockout has a special taming collar. These activate it. You'll know if you need to use it or not." Peter pulled his out and displayed it. "We all have one just in case."

Vernon nodded as he clipped the box onto his pants. "You seem pretty scared of her."

"Ha!" Peter laughed as he rubbed two sparing wires together. "With good reason. She's evil, and she's only here because she doesn't want to be in jail."

Vernon said nothing more on the subject. He thought though. The mare that tried to take over the world, or at least rid it of predators. She looked familiar. But then again, Vernon had met plenty of sheep and no shortage of them that referred to him as a _pred_. Something else though. He thought about his real job, that he'd probably be leaving behind. Work at Bug Burgas was never glamorous. But, Vernon recalled something. Milkshake. Why was that significant. Puzzles. He grabbed at his brain. "Woah!" He saw something. It was like a sudden light in his brain. It hurt. He wondered where his phone was and remembered. No. It was in his box of stuff. But, it wasn't at the same time. Someone, _she_ , playing with...

"You alright?" Peter lifted his magnification glasses and set down his soldering iron. "Uh. Nose."

Vernon brushed his nose and felt something wet. He pulled his paw away and half laughed to himself. "Blood." He tilted his head back. "Wow. I think it's been six years since I last had a nose bleed."


	8. Chapter 8

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 8 "Footloose!"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Daniel ran up the stairs to his room with the package that had arrived that morning. Tearing into the white, blue, and red box, he smiled with glee at the object inside. Object, that was to say that in was an object of careful selection and what the deer considered to be one of the best two hundred and thirty dollars he ever spent, plus shipping. He raised the blue compression track suit from the box and scrutinized every detail from the angled thumb looped sleeves to the green accents that framed the sides, forearms, and shins. It was olympic quality rated for high stress under intense speed. Its substance was manufactured for some of the fastest animals in the world, and Daniel couldn't wait to try it out.

"Daniel?"

Daniel shoved the suit back into the box to hide it from his little sister. The fox that his parents had adopted when he was younger had always been a bit of a snoop. "Hey Kitty. What's up?" He turned hiding the box behind his back.

Katherine looked upset. Her one foot hovered above the floor a little. "I stepped on a scrow."

"A screw?" Daniel was used to helping Kathrine remember how to pronounce certain words. She never talked much when she was little, and her first words didn't come till way late. Speech therapy helped, but not as much when Daniel and his parents took the time to speak with her. It used to be really bad. Any 'tr' word came out with and 'f' sound. Then there was the radio comercial that Katherine sang. _Fun trucking, fun trucking under the sun!_ Daniel always laughed at how motified his parents were. "How'd you manage that?"

"I wasn't looking where I was going." Katherine tried to look around Daniel who instinctually hid the box a little more. "What's that?"

"School stuff." Daniel hated lying to his little sister, but he figured it was a justified lie. "I'm thinking about getting back into track." That was an absolute horrible lie. He hated track even though he was good, before he got his powers. He had pondered the thought maybe once. He decided against it since he knew how unfair it would be to everyone else.

"Oh." Katherine looked at her foot and back to Daniel.

Daniel tucked the box under his bed and picked Katherine up. "Come on Kitty, let's fix your wheels." Sitting her down on the sink, he lifted up her foot. The was a few miniscule red lines that matched the diagonal pattern of a screw. It wasn't bad, but Daniel remembered what it was like as a kid, the world was bigger, and a scuff was a scratch. Opening one of the bathroom drawers, he pulled out the little first aid kit he made, as a junior ranger scout, out of an oven pad. Unbuttoning the loop he opened its contents. "This might sting." Daniel spritzed some antibacterial spray on Katherines foot. She winced, but only a little.

Daniel followed up with a bandaid and a shoddy dollar store bandage. The bandage was more for looks as it really did nothing. But, he knew to his little sister, it made everything feel better. "Thanks Daniel." She wrapped her arms around Daniel as far as the could reach. "You're the best brother ever!"

"Thanks, Kitty."

Daniel waved to the badger at the t-shirt shop. "Thanks Mr. Huffleton!"

"I didn't get to see what you made though, is it any good?" The badger leaned against the door as Daniel speed walked towards the diner to clock in for his shift.

"It's great, perfect! Thanks again." Daniel cracked the bag open to take a peek at the print that added an extra bounce to his step. Bursting through the doors to Spanky's diner, daniel smiled uncontrollably. "Good morning!"

Junior, Spanky's son, folded his arms and cocked his brow at Daniel. "Who are you? And what have you done to the real Daniel?"

"Good one, J. I'm just happy to be at work! Happy to be alive. Thought I'd clock in early." Daniel went to the back room where he locked up his box and changed into his uniform. Never before had Daniel been so happy to be wearing his grease stained uniform behind the grill, flipping patties, frying eggs for twenty three hour breakfast, and mixing milkshakes. The radio seemed to be playing a bit louder that day as well. Daniel's feet started to loosely step to a beet which traveled up his legs and into the rest of his body.

Echo appeared, but only to Daniel, humming the tune and giggling at the display. " _...everybody cut, everybody cut…"_

Daniel made his way out to the table, dancing as he served various customers. Animals laughed, some gawked. Spanky passed through and laughed with Junior. And then…

"Nice moves Footloose."

Daniel fumbled, almost dropping his serving tray. "Uh." It was Daisy, the doe from that one night. Daniel panicked in his mind. _Did she know who I was?_

The doe smiled at the look plastered on Daniel's face. "You okay Footloose?"

 _No,_ Daniel concluded, _she doesn't know its me._ "Ugh, yeah, just a little winded." Daniel was a little disappointed that she didn't know who he was, but that was also a good thing. It meant his secret identity hadn't been exposed. "Welcome to Spanky's diner."

Daisy flipped out a pink notepad and began writing something down. "So far so good."

"What's that?" Daniel tried to look at what she was writing.

"I'm an intern at Zootopia Times, but I've been doing more since my first article which got me some recognition. I was asked to write a review of this place. And, so far," Daisy tapped her pen against her pink notepad, still smiling, "I like what I see."

"Well," Daniel regained his composition, "perhaps I could interest you in our famous choc'a'cake shake."

"What's that?" Daisy asked.

Daniel walked around the counter. "A guaranteed delight if you're interested. Made right before your eyes." The deer fluttered his fingers in an imaginary rainbow.

"Alright." Daisy took a seat at the counter as Daniel pulled fresh stuff from the fridge. One item made her jaw drop. "No, really?"

"Yes, indeed." Daniel smiled as he dropped a slice of chocolate cake right into the blender along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a scoop of chocolate ice cream, and a measured amount of chocolate milk. Closing the lid of the blender, he sent the ingredients swirling into a frothy tornado. Opening the smaller fridge below the counter he pulled out a tall chilled glass. Pouring the shake into the glass he smiled uncontrollably at Daisy. "Cherry? Whipped cream?"

"Cherry, no cream." Daisy marveled at the "choc'a'cake shake" that was topped with a chocolate covered candied cherry. Not even taking a straw, she drank the shake straight, humming at it's taste. After a solid gulp, she set the glass down, not really wanting to. "That is," she chose her words a bit more professionally, "going on the recommendation list."

"Zootopia times, huh? My mom works there." Daniel handed a napkin to Daisy and pointed to his nose. "You got something there."

"Oh, thank you." Daisy wiped the shake from her nose and thought for a moment. "What's your mom's name maybe I know her."

"Lily Wolff."

Daisy stopped, mid sip and just stared for a moment. "You're _her_ son?!" A huge grin grew on her face. "I've followed your mom's work ever since she wrote _The Decaying Art of Storytelling_. I followed her coverage of Whiplash and the Raven." Another epiphany struck her. "Wait! You're Daniel! You were the one Katherine Fawkes kidnapped. Oh my- You saw Whiplash?"

Daniel couldn't hold back his excitement as he realized he had found someone who was as equally passionate about Whiplash as he was. "You bet. I even met the Phoenix."

"The flying sorceress?" Daisy downed more of the shake to combat her throat which Daniel understood. It was always moments like this, talking about important things, that made your throat go dry. "I saw her when the fighting broke out in the streets. I remember my dad kept pulling me down away from the window. He kept telling me I'd get hurt." The doe sadly smiled at the memory. "Sorry, I don't mean to ramble about thi-."

"No problem." Daniel was surprised that Spanky and Junior hadn't called on him to get back to work. Maybe they heard Daisy was writing a review. Then he turned around. Spanky and Junior were watching. Junior yanked his phone out of sight and the two rushed off. Daniel returned his attention to Daisy. "I don't mind talking about."

"So you really saw the Raven?" Daisy cut straight to the spine, and by accident at that.

Daniel felt the looseness in his step fade into distant memory as his mind recalled being held captive by the monster behind the raven mask. "Yes, uh-." Daniel began to fumble with his words. He couldn't say anything else. His memory recall went into overdrive as he was once again being plucked from his home which was set ablaze by the Raven.

"Oh," Daisy caught on to the sensitivity of the subject, "I didn't mean to pry."

Daniel nodded. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the last of his pocket change and placed an order. He called back to the kitchen. "Heart attack on a rack and green tails." He stuck his money in the cash register and counted his change. "On me." He crumpled the receipt in his grasp before tossing it in a bin.

"Oh. Thanks, I guess." Daisy understood the silent action to a degree. She found it curious, but she understood.

"So, you like my mom's writing?" Daniel asked as he cleaned up some plates at the counter and stacked them on the existing tray of dirty dishes. He lifted the tray up.

"Yeah." Daisy smiled as she wrote more in her notepad. "I'm kinda hopeful that I could get the chance to interview a superhero someday."

Daniel's eyes widened as he tried to come up with a plan to make Daisy's wish come true. He set his tray back down. "Maybe I could help with that."

Daisy's pen skid to a halt when Daniel said that. "Say what now?"

Daniel saw Echo shaking her head as she hovered behind Daisy. "I uh-," Daniel shrugged at Echo as he blurted it out, "I know a guy. He's not particularly well know." He looked at Echo who held her own face in her palm. Daniel yelled internally as he jumped into the lie without so much as a prepared story. "He saved my neck, and I've been doing him favors ever since"

Daisy's eyes shot back and forth between her notepad and Daniel. "Are you serious? Like, you're not kidding around are you." A goat walking by harrumphed and marched out of the diner. "Sorry."

Daniel was able to make up more of his lie to feed Daisy. He didn't like it, but he had to lie. "I could get in contact with him. Maybe even get you an interview."

Daisy laughed in disbelief. Then when she saw that Daniel was being serious she sort of panicked. "Can I have your number? How fast can you get in touch with him?"

Daniel smirked. "He's pretty _quick_ to get a hold of." He could see Echo rolling her eyes at that horrible pun.

Daisy squinted at Daniel's words. He hadn't been exactly subtle and she was quick to catch on. "No. Do you," she leaned in closer and brought her voice to a whisper, "you know the Grasshopper?"

"Yeah." To Daniel's credit, that one wasn't a lie. "Is that what they call him now?"

Daisy covered her mouth as she let her excitement escape silently. "Number, now!" She slapped her notepad on the counter along with her pen.

Daniel took his time writing his cell phone number. Occasionally he'd look up to see the nervous twitch on Daisy's face. "There we go. And, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention my name in your article."

"Right, wouldn't want crooks getting to him through you." Daisy wrote something above his number. She'd written, _Footloose_.

Daniel felt strange when she said that. It was a stirring of some emotion he had never really touched bases with. He didn't quite get why it felt like his stomach was full of butterflies. As morbid as that sounded to him, he couldn't come up with a better description. His heart felt as though it missed a beat or two. "How about tonight?"

Daisy blinked at that question. "What do you mean tonight?"

"The interview?" Daniel couldn't believe she'd forgotten that fast.

"Oh!" Daisy nodded, so fast that for a second Daniel believed he wasn't the fastest thing alive anymore. "Yes," she lowered her voice as people started to stare at her. "Yes that would be amazing."

"Alright then." Daniel turned as his shoulder had been poked. Behind him, Junior was smiling with Daniel's order in hand. Daniel took the tray from the snickering pig who disappeared into the kitchen with a burst of laughter. "Uh here." Daniel handed the food to Daisy. "Is there anywhere, you'd like _him_ to meet you?"

"The Clarabelle Apartments." Daisy looked at the plates of food. "Biscuits and gravy, and fried zucchini." The doe's face lit up. "Personal favorite?" Daniel nodded. "Got any ranch for the zucchini?"

Daniel swore that his heart stopped completely, and he didn't know why.

Daniel shook his arms as he looked over his suit. It was like looking at a completely different person. "Come on. You got this." He brushed over the grasshopper emblem on his chest which matched the ring that sparked his hidden powers. Daniel had taken a liking to the hood from his old jacket, so he had fashioned one which he had sewn into his suit. That wasn't the only thing he'd done. Replacing his bandana and clunky biker goggles was a tight face mask that he had sewn much sleeker goggles into. The new goggles still had yellow lenses, it just made it easier to see at night. Straps came over each shoulder and crossed over his back to hold a sheath for the collapsible bo staff he managed to get a hold of. The staff was technically illegal for anyone under the age of eighteen and not law enforcement to own, but Daniel had become quite acquainted with a fox named Finnick who could get a hold of such objects with no questions asked.

" _So, you're really doing this?"_ Echo hovered over Daniel's bed, watching him pose in the mirror.

"I am. I figure, if bad guys know I exist, they'll think twice before attacking me." Daniel only hoped that it could work. How many criminals actually read the newspaper anyway?

The otter's face was washed over with concern in her eyes. " _You know this isn't a game."_

Daniel nodded. "I know."

" _I'm serious. It's not like one of your comic books when the hero always wins. You could get her. That doe could get hurt. And your frie-."_

"I know!" Daniel cut echo off. "I understand. Goodbye to my old life. I've already stopped a few muggings and saved some lives." He moved his finger up to his ear and activated a switch. He spoke with a garbled tone. "{The voice changer works.}" Daniel faced Echo. "{Say hello to the Grasshopper}."

The otter hummed with a smile, disappearing into the crystal on the bedside table. " _Goodbye."_

The Grasshopper took in a few deep breaths before looking himself over once more. "{Let's do this.}" In the blink of an eye, he was on his roof. Rooftop to rooftop, he ran and hopped along until he made it to the nearest main street. In just three seconds and twelve turns, he found himself skidding to a halt beneath the familiar glow of the sign for the Clarabelle apartments.

"Oh!" Daisy was there, waiting in a camping chair. She shot up to her feet trying desperately to make herself seem prim and proper. "It's you." Her voice was more dignified, professional. "I was beginning to wonder if you would actually show up."

The Grasshopper checked an imaginary watch. "{Wow, am I late?}"

Daisy didn't seemed amused by the statement, but perhaps that was due to her professional side kicking in. "It's nearly eight thirty."

"{How about that,}" the Grasshopper bowed slightly, "{then, there isn't a moment to waste. Is there? Let's get to that interview. But,}" he looked around, "{perhaps somewhere more private?}"

Daisy shrugged her shoulders. "I guess." Her professional tone dropped off a bit.

The Grasshopper held out his hand. "{Here.}" As the doe carefully took his hand, he put his other hand behind her head to support her head. "{Trust me.}"

Daisy was almost shaking when she nodded. "Okay." She screamed as the Grasshopper took off. The lights of the city flashed before their eyes. And as soon as the lights of skyscrapers engulfed them, they vanished. There was mist trailing behind them as they sped across the bay. Daisy cried out as she realized the Grasshopper was running across water. Then, to her horror, she realized he was slowing down while they were still over the shimmering surface of the water. A sudden stop and she found herself falling into the Grasshopper's arms.

The Grasshopper carefully sat her down in a chair "{Take your time. You must be pretty winded, light headed even.}"

Daisy nodded weakly. Her eyes widened as she realized her feet were in the water. "Are we walking on water?" Testing the tension beneath her feet, she found sand.

"{The Marian sand bar, not too far from the east shore of Zootopia. You can see the lights of Sahara Square over there.}" The Grasshopper sat down in his own chair across from Daisy.

The lights of Sahara Square bubbled up into the sky, looking like the glare of the dome over a giant snow globe. Where the light pollution ended, the feathered fingers of stars began. And over it all, the moon stood guard above the Grasshopper and Daisy.

The Grasshopper gestured to Daisy's bright pink attire. "{If you don't mind me saying, that's a beautiful dress you have on.}"

Daisy looked away and smiled as she found the rest of her senses along with her composition book. Opening it up, she found the pre written questions. It was visible enough under the moonlight. "I'm sorry if these questions seem a bit simple, I didn't think I'd be interviewing a superhero so soon." She tapped her pen as she looked up at the Grasshopper. "I see you've made a few upgrades to your own outfit since we last met. So, I did some poking around and found that you were in fact the phenomenon known as the Quickster? But, you go by Grasshopper?"

"{That's right}."

Daisy put a checkmark next to a previously jotted down idea. "Okay so, I'm guessing you don't want anyone to know your secret identity. Is it fair to say you hide your face (and voice) to protect your family?"

The Grasshopper smiled beneath his mask as he clasped his fingers together. "{That's a fair statement.}"

"Okay." Daisy jotted something. "You don't _drink_ while you run, do you."

It appeared as an off hand comment, but the Grasshopper saw there was more to it. "{It's hard enough to drink while walking let alone running.}" He knew she was trying to guess his age. "{Regardless of my age, I don't intend to ever _drink_. I have no reason to throw away my life like that.}"

Daisy clicked her pen in amusement. "Saw right through my trap. Alright. Judging by the antlers, I'll take a gander that you're a deer."

The Grasshopper snapped his fingers "{Ah! Betrayed by the trait shared by so many types of deer, but which one.}"

Daisy shook her head. "A buck of an undetermined category. Fine. Would you at least explain how you got your powers?"

The Grasshopper straightened up as he recalled that day. "{I was young, and I didn't get them so much as accidentally triggered them. I came across an artifact that allowed me to tap into powers I had but knew nothing about. I'll admit the first time I tested my power, I ate dirt. Completely face planted.}"

Daisy finally laughed. "I suppose no one is perfect. So, these powers. Can you just run fast?"

"{That, and more.}" The Grasshopper demonstrated by rubbing his hands together so fast they emitted a bolt of electricity that daisy could feel.

Daisy nearly jumped at the electric shock which was little more than an extreme amount of static. "Woah, is there anything _else_ you can _do_ really fast?"

The Grasshopper leaned back with his hands raised. "{Woah miss, I haven't even bought you a drink yet.}"

Daisy covered mouth, realizing how suggestive what she said was. "Sorry." She fumbled to find words. "No. I'm not even old enou-." She stopped when she realized that the Grasshopper started writing in a pocket notebook. "Did you just use my own trick on me?"

The Grasshopper continued writing. "{Under twenty one.}" He exaggerated the motion of putting a period at the end of his writing.

Daisy waged a digit at him. "Hey, I'm supposed to be interviewing you."

The Grasshopper tucked his notebook away. "{Proceed}"

"Okay." The doe struggled to stay focused with the Grasshopper's antics. "So, when you do 'hero stuff' do you just push people away or what? Do you have any other means of defense." She watched as the Grasshopper pulled out the collapsible bo staff and spun it open. "That's cool. So, with the Mayor's statement about the Empire, are you affiliated with that group."

"{Well,}" the Grasshopper was at a loss for words, "{I don't suppose I'm worthy of their ranks. I still have some growing to do before I could ever be among the Empire.}"

Daisy immediately took note of what he said. "Okay. Why be a superhero. You could use these powers for anything. Why not use them to your own ends?"

The Grasshopper let out a sigh. "{When I was little, yes it's silly now that I think about it, I stole a candy bar from my teachers desk. But, I quickly realised then that using my powers that way just wasn't right. I had always looked up to Whiplash. He was my hero until he disappeared. I don't blame him, he was probably sworn to secrecy with the Empire. But, I wanted to be someone who could be there, for the others like me. The ones he needed good animals to look up to. Whiplash gave me hope. His very existence made me feel like I had to have a purpose in this world. I knew that helping others, protecting people, was what I was meant for.}"

Daisy finished writing a few seconds after the Grasshopper finished talking. A look swelled up in her eyes. Admiration, maybe. Respect, uncertain. "Um, since I imagine you don't get regular checks for helping people. Do you have a job?"

"{Just like every upstanding, contributing, member of society should.}"

Daisy smiled as she tempted to press a boundary. "Wife? Girlfriend?"

The Grasshopper crossed his arms, sitting silently for a moment in thought. "{It's complicated.}"

"How complicated?" Daisy demanded.

The Grasshopper hummed at her pursuit of the topic. "{Saved her in an alleyway, kissed briefly, barely know each other, kind of complicated.}" He tested the waters. "{I think she's an intern or something. At some, I think it's a paper company, but everything is digital now. Honestly it's confusing."

Daisy sort of hid behind her composition book defensively. Maybe it was to hide the smile she couldn't contain. The air between them was thick, and it wasn't because of the fog that started to form around them. "You remember me then?"

The Grasshopper stood up and stepped closer to Daisy. "{I don't think I could forget someone as beautiful as you, Miss Daisy.}"

Daisy carefully stood up, and looked closely at the Grasshopper. Setting he composition book down, she brushed her hand over the emblem on the Grasshopper's chest. She stopped. The doe could feel his heart beating almost as fast as hers. Her other hand found his. Moving up from his chest, Daisy's hand found the edges of his mask. The faint outline of his irises stared back at her.

They both looked over the water as sirens wailed in Sahara Square. Flashing blue and red lights were visible. A smoke trail grew higher and higher

The Grasshopper let go of Daisy's hand. "{I'll be right back, and we'll finish the interview. I promise.}"

Before Daisy could say anything, the Grasshopper was over the water and in the middle of Sahara Square. A memory from his childhood stabbed his brain as he gazed upon the burning building. Without hesitation, he was in the building. Starting from the top floor, going down to the bottom, he evacuated all the animals he could find. The last one was a baby that the Grasshopper returned to the one who had been crying for her child. The mass of evacuated animals were strange to the Grasshopper. No two were alike. Some that were completely different species were holding onto each other. They were _blended_ families. Their home, a white brick building, was now engulfed in flames.

The Grasshopper turned around as the cop cars and fire engine caught up to _his response time_.

"Freeze!" Several officers aimed tranquilizers at the blue and green clad figure standing before them.

"Wait!" A koala stood in front of the Grasshopper. "He saved our lives. Leave him alone!"

Others joined in, standing between the officers and the one who had been their savior from the fires that engulfed their home.

The police officers lowered their tranquilizers. "Who is he?!"

A little cheetah cub ran up to one of the officers. "He's da Grasshoppah, and he's a supahero."

The Grasshopper saluted the police officers along with the little cub. "{Officers.}" Without warning, he zoomed away, back to the interview he owed a certain doe.


	9. Chapter 9

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 9 "Suspicious Minds"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Nick rested his head against the steering wheel of the interceptor as he waited for Judy. "I don't know, Judy, if I can keep pretending." He felt himself slipping every day. The _drink_ kept calling him. And the only cure, Nick could find, was working with Judy as he always had. Nick smiled at his little predicament as he mimicked the really bad movie he had watched the other night. " _You're tearing me apart Judith!"_ He sighed as a small laugh made him forget, for a moment, about his situation with his partner, and best friend.

Nick remembered hearing his parents say something about how you should marry your best friend. He never thought that would come back to taunt him. Then he wondered, what if he had asked her? Would it all be different?

Nick looked up to see Judy waving at Gideon Grey, who had little Judy Big perched on his shoulder. " _You deserve a friend Nick."_ Nick shook off the joke. Was it a joke? Didn't matter. It didn't make him hate Gideon less than he already was starting to.

"Hey Nick." Judy hopped into the passenger seat.

Nick tapped the steering wheel before singing, " _Hey Jude!"_

Judy shook her head but she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "Ugh, Nick!"

" _Don't make it bad, take a sad song!"_ Nick snorted with laughter as Judy squeezed his jaw shut.

"Listen you!" Judy pulled out a gift wrapped box. "Happy birthday."

Nick went silent. "That's today." He had to think about it.

A look of concern swept over Judy's face. "Did you forget your own birthday?"

Nick shrugged. "I must be getting old."

"Oh stop." Judy shook her head again. "You're only forty two. You're still young."

Nick raised his brow at Judy. "Thirty nine is still young. Which means _you_ only got three years left of being young." Nick gasped dramatically as he pointed at Judy's head. "Is that a gray hair?!"

Judy was about to reach for the top of her head when she remembered, "Nick," she deadpanned, "all of my fur is already gray."

Nick slapped his chest in fake surprise. "What?! I never noticed?"

Judy held her face as she laughed. "Nick! What's up with you today?"

Nick forced a smile. _Judy, I just wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you for a long time._ "I'm just happy to see my partner." Nick smiled away the lie as he began to drive towards the station. _I love you._

Judy shook her head, yet again at her partner's antics. "Glad to see you too."

Nick hadn't driven more than a mile when he saw the line of honking cars with angry passengers standing in the street. "What's this all about?" Nick parked the interceptor next to the curb and cut the engine. Stepping out he could see animals on their phones, probably explaining why they'd be late for work. Nick hoisted himself onto the roof of the interceptor.

Judy popped her head out. "What do you see?"

Nick held his hands just above his eyes to block out the morning sun so he could see what was up. "The whole road is blocked off in front of the court house."

One driver yelled out. "There was no road block scheduled for the day. You know anything about this?"

"No." Nick yelled back.

"Nick!" Judy called out. "Do you hear that?"

It was faint, but then it came like a tidal wave that slowly grew into existence. It was music. It was classical music. A flurry of bells was joined by swelling voices. Nick recognized it as an overture from some concert Judy had dragged him to years ago. The music grew louder and louder as it neared the crescendo. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The crescendo hit!

Nick fell back as the windows of the courthouse shattered with flames bursting outward. Level by level, the flames traveled upward. Explosions went off to the beat of the song. Nick and Judy watched as multi colored flares and fireworks sprung up from the courthouse. The structure's dome collapsed as wood and metal bent to the will of the continuous explosions.

The finale hit, sending one final shockwave across the whole area. Then there was silence, and the courthouse was gone.

The little intercom buzzed to life. " _Chief Tigre, Hopps and Wilde just got back."_

Chief Tigre held down the intercom button. "Send 'em in, Clawhauser." The tiger reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a bottle of pain killers. "Down the hatch." Popping the lid, he carefully shook two capsules out and tossed them in his mouth. He groaned as he swallowed the pills, dry. It had only been a year and a half since Bogo left the ZPD and left Tigre as the new chief. The tiger was now beginning to realize why Bogo retired so early. The job had its fair share of stress to be had. And, stress was always in full supply at the ZPD. Now, more than ever.

 _KNOCK KNOCK_

"Come in." Tigre tapped his face as he faced the opening door that revealed Nick and Judy. "Hopps, Wilde, you okay."

"We're fine, chief. Still a bit shaken up though." Judy Looked at Nick who seemed to be somewhere else. "Nick?"

Tigre clasped his paws together as he addressed Nick, "Officer Wilde."

"Good." Nick blurted out.

"You sure?" Tigre wasn't quite convinced by Nick's response.

"Yeah." Nick nodded. "Just going over details."

"Convenient." Tigre gestured for Nick and Judy to sit down. "Lay it on me. How many people were injured?"

"None." Nick shook his head." He recalled the blast. The road block. "Everyone was well out of range of the explosion. The road was blocked off, so no one could get close enough."

"Okay." Tigre nodded. "Anything else."

Judy cleared her throat before speaking, "There's a problem. We checked in with the city, and there was no roadblock scheduled. We think this was planned by someone."

Tigre shut his eyes for a moment as he prayed for the painkillers to kick in. "You're suggesting this was an act of terrorism?"

"Quite possibly, yes sir." Judy nodded.

" _Quite possibly_." Tigre breathed deep as his headache miraculously fled from his skull. "Well, I just got off the phone with Mayor Swinton who explained that the court house was being prepped for demolition and that the explosive charges went off prematurely."

Nick scoffed at the idea. "Then how do you explain the flares and the fireworks?"

"She said they were sending the old court house off with a ' _bang_ '." Tigre leaned in over Nick, pointing his pen at his chest. "Officer Wilde, I hope you're not letting your political views interfere with your job."

Nick put up his paws defensively. "Granted that I'm not a huge fan of Swinton, I'm just making sure we check all our corners. Everyone's innocent until proven guilty, but during an investigation, everyone is still a suspect."

"I have to agree with Nick." Judy chimed in. "There's obviously conflicting information between what the city workers said and what Swinton said."

Tigre agreed with this. "Okay, well you two should get on that. Either the workers are lying or the mayor is lying. I want you to figure out who it is ASAP. Capiche?"

"Yes sir." Nick and Judy both saluted.

"Alright." Tigre sighed. "Now where is that quoll?"

The door burst open at the hands of a small animal dragging papers and files. "Chief! Why weren't these files processed like everything else?! I hope you appreciate me for digging through the basement to find this information."

Tigre suddenly felt like the painkillers had failed to contain the floodgates which had burst with the presence of the very quoll he had mentioned. "Q, I'm not-"

"Paper! I had to look through paper to find all this information." The quoll continued his rant. "We have technology, computers that make all this information accessible, we're not cave mammals!"

"Do you have the information or not Q?!" Tigre slammed a fist down on the desk.

Q huffed at the tiger as he pulled out the main paper needed out of the stack he had dragged with him from the basement. "Yes. I have the info on the explosives. And guess what, these ain't your family friendly run of the mill explosives approved for demolition purposes." Q looked at Nick and Judy. "You saw fire, right? Coming out of the court house?"

Nick and Judy both nodded.

"You see Tigre." Q slapped the paper in front of the chief. "Regular demolitions are typically flameless implosions. This fireball of a stunt could not have come from the quote on quote, _standard issue._ "

Tigre looked over the paper. "Criminy. This is what you found traces of?"

"Yep." Q dumped the rest of the papers he was carrying on the floor beside him. "Straight out of the _Cookbook_."

"The what?" Judy asked.

"Anarchist's cookbook." Nick elaborated. "A collection of _recipes_ , do it yourself bombs and explosives. But, that book was banned, long ago. Copies are almost impossible to comeby now a days. Everything is online. So anywhere it's put up, it's almost instantly taken down."

"Well," Judy shrugged, "can you trace the source of the materials at all?"

"That's the thing," Q sighed, "the ingredients in these makeshift bombs can be found in any household, making it difficult to trace."

"Nick," Judy turned to her partner, "you know everybody. Know anyone who'd sell or supply explosives like this."

"Unfortunately, no. And for the record, knowing everyone doesn't include their secrets."

Q hummed to himself. "I haven't seen stuff like this since the Raven was around." Everyone in the room froze a bit at the mention of the Raven.

Nick felt the deepest pain. He still had anger, mostly for himself in being so blind. He had been engaged to a vixen by the name of Kit. As it turned out, she was the Raven, the mind behind the radical predator group that terrorized Zootopia in the reincarnated form of an evil of the old world. Nick had been blind to the fact that Kit was evil and that he should never have trusted her. He let Kit blind him. He lost sight of his friend, Judy.

Judy furrowed her brow at Q. "You're talking about the weapon caches. Do you think we might have missed some?"

Q snorted as he scratched his chin in thought. "Even so, these type of explosives don't always keep."

Tigre pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Speak of the devil."

"What is it," Judy made her way back to Tigre's desk.

"News story." Tigre groaned. "Swinton's speaking soon about the premature detonation." Holding his phone up to the screen mounted on the wall, he swiped the video feed onto the screen for all of them to see.

The regular ZNN anchormammals were on display behind their desk with notes in thier paws even though they'd just read them from the teleprompter. " _...detonation was premature according to Mayor Swinton-"_ the suit clad narrators stared blankly into space as they broke down into incoherent stutters. " _No wait!"_ Their grunts barely sounded out as darts hit their necks. Four animals dressed in combat fatigues and harnesses strolled in. Their faces were covered by identical white bird masks with black beaks.

"What the heck?" Nick stared in disbelief as the masked animals dragged the passed out bodies off camera.

Tigre slammed on his intercom. "Clawhauser, send all available units to the ZNN studio! Now!

" _Looks like fake news ZNN is having some technical difficulties."_ A voice off camera cackled. " _Boss, it's showtime."_

"Nick!" Judy flipped out the keys to their interceptor. "Let's go."

Everywhere in Zootopia, the multitudes stared down at phones, up at screens, and all manner of devices as the same feed from ZNN took over everything. Animals began to freak out as the same empty desk appeared everywhere. Everyone watched as the desk was filled by a figure dressed in white with the same white bird mask as the animals who relieved the usual hosts.

"Good evening Zootopia. I would like to apologize first for this interruption. I must admit I enjoy a good news story just as much as any mammal. But there is business of utmost importance, the record must be set straight. I hope you're listening carefully.

"As I said it is business, the company's business. We started so small from humble beginnings. My-my-my, has it really been thousands of years since you quadrupeds liberated yourselves from such a primitive existence when you dared to walk on two legs and decide not to eat each other? Then you scrambled together into tribes, ah yes, the business. Family owned at first, you carried opportunity further with caravans between towns, from towns to cities, and from cities to countries. Yes.

"You animals have served us so well for so long, but I'm afraid all the years of your past honorable service are insufficient to spare you the consequences of your recent sloppy work habits. You've been slipping up lately, no don't act so surprised. I know, you were counting on your long term dedication to the company to shield you from the consequences. But, the company relies on all assets. And quite frankly, it dangerously close to bankruptcy. How did this happen? I know you're wondering it as much as I. While I know, I still wonder it.

"It was your carelessness that brought you here, today, my fellow Zootopians. You've neglected your responsibilities to the new members of the company. We are now horribly understaffed in competent reliable workers fit for the task of contributing wholesome work that is essential to progress. Now we are grotesquely overstaffed in weak minded and self destructive children who seek rewards where none shall be allowed. The company does not pay for the antithesis to progress.

"These new employees of yours have made some horrible decisions which you have neglected to respond to. That's not to say it's purely you're fault alone. No. There is a definite management

Issue that ought to have been taken care of, and that responsibility falls to you who so blindly accepted the leadership of the miscreants that have been in charge. It would seem that instead of constructive criticism, you would rather take lies that make you feel good about yourselves. You chose flattery over truth. Again truth, you waste it along with the company's time as you sit in your miserable comforts while the corrupt management, you yourself promoted, puckers her lips beneath your tail with a paycheck you never truly earned.

"Proud of yourself?

"With all that has gone so horribly wrong, I'm afraid the company is going to have to let you go unless you change, if there's any company left to let you go from. I hope you ponder these words I have shared. Their meaning, I don't expect to come easy to you. You've all been spoonfed long enough. If you have any ounce of dignity left, if you value freedom, you friends, and your families, then wake up. Open your eyes to the injustice that's been done.

"Mayor Swinton has claimed, or rather was going to claim, that the destruction of the court house was an accident. I can assure you that it was no mere accident. I blew up the courthouse. It stood in vain as judges paid expressly by Swinton sent innocent mammals to prison, even death row. Follow the money trail, the truth with spring up before you. Ah, yes, truth. Fear. That's why I did it. Fear and hunger are the ultimate motivators. To think, it took blowing up a building to gain your attention.

"Now that i have it. I offer you a choice. You can sit idly by while you consume Bug-Burga and Snarlbucks as the ones you've placed in charge slowly poison your fatty feast, or you can join me in exposing the corrupt hierarchy of fiends who foolishly feign to recognize their agendas above the basic freedoms you truly deserve but have been trained to deny. Complacency or justice.

"While Swinton will offer you false promises of impossible reward without work, little children, I offer you a chance, to take back your dignity. As, I, take back mine. My voice and words were manipulated once before, but no more. Those who claim to be above us used me to strike fear into you some ten years ago. But, no more. My first act in my path of repentance is to avenge you. They used me to give you fear, but now I serve you to give them fear, where fear so rightfully belongs. You need not fear me, nor them; it is they who should fear us.

"And to you, _Mayor_ Swinton, you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Nick and Judy ran up the staircase with multiple officers towards the main news studio.

Once there, they were surprised to see two of the masked animals tied up in the center of the studio. The news crew was surrounding them, all shaken. Some, you could read the terror on their faces. Others were lost in thought over the words spoken to the world.

Nick kept his tranquilizer gun high and straight in the direction of the masked animals. He kept his distance in case either of them decided to try anything. He looked at some of the news crew. "Did you tie them up?"

"We told them to." One of the masked animals spoke. "We stayed behind."

"As testifiers." The other, chimed in.

Nick could tell by the horns that they were both gazelles. "Testifiers?" Nick kept a bead on them as four officers approached the masked gazelles with handcuffs. "Who are you exactly?"

The masked gazelles looked at each other and back to Nick. "We are no one. Yet we are one. We can't forgive, and we can never forget."

Judy pulled Nick's arm down. "Nick." She gestured to the floor below. Small drops of blood had been dripping from their masks.

"You can expect us to come again." They both began to gasp. "Veni, vidi, vici."

Nick dropped his tranquilizer as he backed away from the two masked gazelles that fell silent, resting against each other. His mind cried out in absolute terror as he saw the Raven coming back to get him. "No," Nick slipped as he continued to back away, "no, no, it can't be."

"Nick!" Judy ran to her partner as he cowered at the sight of the now faceless white raven masks. "Nick, what's wrong."

He remembered, that motto, it was hers. _I came, I saw, I conquered._ "The Raven." Nick's breathing grew more erratic with every second those masks dead eyed him.

"Nick, you need to calm down." Judy saw Nick reaching for his left arm. The realization sent a shockwave of terror through her and the other officers. "Get an ambulance! He's having a heart attack!"


	10. Chapter 10

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 10 "In The Face Of Evil"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Lily nodded to herself as she talked over the phone. "I know. - No. I don't care if she got the interview with him. - The court house was just blown up. - I understand, but people want answers about the courthouse. They're not interested in another superhero's story right now. - It's good? - Okay. Put it on my desk and if the aftershock of the attack on the court house subsides, I'll take a look at it. - Yes! - Bye." She hung up the hallway phone and turned to see Adam pulling his infamous old beanie over his ear stumps. She found it odd that he had begun the habit again of hiding his mutilated ears. For ten years he never hid them. Why now?

"Work?" The wolf weakly held out his paw to Lily who snatched it up.

Lily held his paw in hers like her life depended on it. Something was up. And, there was was no word from Savage about anything to do with the courthouse. "Yeah. I got word of an interview with your speedster vigilante. I'll give you the interview for the Empire's file on him."

Adam nodded as he worked up the strength to ask the itching question on his brain. "Lily, I know we haven't spoken much since that night. I know how upset you were."

Lily shook her head and yanked that stupid beanie off of her husband's head. Before he could even ask his question. "Don't make it sound like I'm filing for a divorce. Don't you remember me kissing you?"

"I almost died."

"Doesn't matter." Lily sent the beanie into a ball of fire, incinerating it. "I'm still mad, but I still love you. And when I agreed to for better or for worse, I meant it. Besides, the world needs us again."

The tone of his wife's voice made Adam tighten his hold on her paw. "You think something is coming?"

Lily believed something was coming. From her time in that dark counterfeit copy of the world where Novus Purificatio ravaged the world, she knew something was coming. "You remember the timeline I told you about?"

Adam sighed. He remembered rescuing Lily from some NP facility where her powers mysteriously showed up. Something triggered those powers. But, he was still skeptical of what. "I remember. But, that still could have been a dream from what they did to you."

"No." Lily shook her head. "It was real, and so much was wrong with it. Plasma weapons, the whole world in ruin. Holes in stories that made no sense. It made no sense that the NP's destroyed the world as much as they did in that future."

"It was war." Adam entertained Lily's story to get to the point of where she was going with it. "There's always destruction in war."

Lily shook her head as she recalled the nightmarish images. The shattered buildings, the burned earth, and the black sky all protested assumptions she had previously made. "Skyscrapers were torn apart. Most of the green had died. There were bunkers like-." She felt sick to even think of the power of the atomic bomb. "Maybe there was another war that no one saw in the beginning. Maybe that's where the plasma weapons came from."

Adam pulled Lily closer. "Everytime you talk about it, it seems like it wasn't a dream."

Lily recalled that dark place's reality. There Adam had been dead, died in a war that was no longer relevant to their time. "I wish it was only a dream."

Tire screeches diverted their attention to the nearest window. They both watched as an ambulance skid to a halt in front of the Empire headquarters. In the distance a cop car was catching up. Out of the ambulance, Nick Wilde fumbled out while holding an IV stand and bag. He had his uniform pants pulled over a hospital gown along with his shirt over one arm. The fox heard the siren behind him and darted for the entryway.

Adam groaned. "This should be interesting."

Nick waved his ID at the secretary who acknowledged permission to enter the building. It wasn't until Nick boarded the nearby elevator that the secretary realized his appearance and heard the sounds of a screaming rabbit. Nick violently tapped the "close doors" button repeatedly in the elevator. He heard Judy call his name and bang on the doors as they closed just before she could reach him. Nick peeled out of the elevator with IV in tow once he reached the floor he wanted. "Savage! Adam!" He turned down a hall and found one of the animals he was looking for. "Adam."

"Nick! What the heck are you doing here?" Adam's voice was followed by Lily's.

"Nick?" She looked the frantic fox up and down. "What are you-?"

The doorway to the stairs slammed open. "Nick!" It was Judy.

"I'm never gonna forget my name after today," Nick muttered.

Judy yanked on the fox's arm. "You need to get back to the hospital. You just had a heart attack!"

"Woah, what?!" Adam's eyes darted back and forth between Nick and Judy.

"It wasn't a heart attack. Look at my family's medical history, no cases of heart attack or heart failure anywhere. I was poisoned. It happened to Bogo and it happened to me too!" As bad as Nick felt for slapping Judy's paw away, his resolve was firm. "The attack on the Courthouse, it was the Raven." 

"What?" Lily's eyes went dead fish at that statement.

"Nick." Judy grabbed Nick by the collar of the hospital gown. "The Raven is dead. She is dead!"

Nick looked at Adam and Lily who waited with bated breath for further information. "Veni, vidi vici." The fox nodded as Lily started to shake. "You know those words. She said them didn't she?"

"That's impossible." Lily grabbed at Adam who held onto her. "I watched her die."

Nick felt sorry for being the bearer of bad news. He new that the Raven, Kit (Katherine) Fawkes, was her friend. "What happened to her body?" Regardless, these coincidences could not be ignored.

"Nick, that's enough!" Judy shook her partner. "Do you hear yourself?"

"Show them the masks!" Nick snapped.

Judy reluctantly pulled her phone out and pulled up photos sent to her by Q from evidence. She held her phone up to Adam and Lily. Both nearly gasped.

Lily's eyes locked on the screen as she asked, "Where did you get these?"

Adam nodded. "That looks like her mask, but why is it white?"

Nick cleared his throat. "The ZNN station. Didn't you see the broadcast? It was a hack, nearly every device in Zootopia got it."

Adam shrugged. "This building's system is so advanced, I'm sure even it's firewalls have firewalls. My phone's dead, and Lily left hers at home."

Lily got in Nick's face. "What broadcast?"

It didn't take long to find a copy of the video online since people flooded the internet with copies of everything that became trendy. Nick was resting in the Empire's infirmary upon Judy's request. He could hear them in the next room listening to it. Nick took to watching the television in the infirmary, which he was thankful for. It was all over the news, the courthouse, the white Raven masks. Nick flipped through the channels. He flipped through ad after ad until one caught his eye.

"...certified operating system guarantees satisfaction. This state of the art hologram system is nine years in the making since we first released our first digital companions oversees." The commercial cut to a customer interview. "With the digital companion, I've gotten a better hold on my life. And, it was an even bigger help getting me through my depression."

Nick remembered the little holographic AI's that were released overseas to combat depression and suicide among masses of single mammals. He believed it was a joke when they first came out. But then, they became popular. They got cheaper and cheaper. And soon there was the home interface system that basically gave you a smart house in the guise of a faux friend, companion, that could turn the dishwasher on for you because you're too lazy. Robot girlfriend, Nick muttered.

"...hundreds of species models, both male and female to suit your daily needs in virtual companionship. All for a lowered price of…"

Nick turned the TV off when Judy, Adam, and Lily came into the infirmary to convene with him. He could hear the end of the speech on Judy's phone.

"And to you, Mayor Swinton, you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Nick saw confusion plastered over Lily and Adam's face. "So? Do you believe it's her?"

Lily folded her arms. "I'm not sure. Flecks of words sound similar, but it's like a different person."

"Not to mention the size compared to the others with her." Adam explained. "Whoever it is, they're too big to be a fox."

Nick could tell something was off. "Lily, you're thinking something."

Lily made herself smaller digging her hand deeper under arms. "When we were in high school. Kit was big into anarchy type stuff. She'd ramble on about government conspiracies. Said the moon landing was faked. Stuff like that."

Nick nodded in thought. "That seems to fit the architecture of the speech."

"The moon landing wasn't faked." None of them noticed Jack savage as he entered the infirmary. "But, the broadcast was." The jack rabbit walked over to Nick and pulled out a needle. "Let's keep this between ourselves shall we. Secrets are kept for a reason. We will neither confirm nor deny the mysterious reappearance of the Raven. There would be mass panic. Whoever this white raven is, has not made their identity known - only that Swinton has wronged them somehow." Savage injected the needle's contents into Nick's IV bag.

Adam nodded without question. "Yes sir."

Lily was not as indoctrinated as her husband. "Hang on. You're saying we should lie to the public?"

"Not lie, simply withhold information. Your husband followed that order with you, and for years you never needed to worry about his life or any other peril he faced because you believed everything was normal." Savage set the needle on a nearby tray. "You both withhold your true selves from your children to protect their peace of mind. Surely you must understand the principle. Individuals awake to common sense are smart, but bandwagon masses are incredibly stupid, dangerous, and a hazard to themselves."

Lily said nothing more.

Savage flicked the IV bag. "This should get Officer Wilde on his feet. The Mayor expects that ridiculous show and tell session with the press tomorrow. So, we must be cautious with what we say." He handed Adam a file. "This white Raven has been around longer than we think."

Adam looked at the file. The realization his him. "The ghost vigilante."

Nick tried to remain calm as the crown gathered in the conference hall. Answer their question with a question, and answer that question. Nick struggled to coach himself. Though he had all the advice to give, doing it himself was different. This was usually Judy's job, but they were both involved with the Empire now. He saw the reporters and news people all taking notes before anything had begun. Judy was the only one sitting next to Nick.

There were six empty seats, on the stage to their right. One for Swinton, Savage, Whiplash, the Phoenix, the Moth, and Crystal. Savage suggested that Peter and Bellwether stay in the shadows a little longer since they had an unsavory history, especially Bellwether. Whiplash was already in good standing with most of the public. And, the Moth was a bit of an internet legend in his own right.

Mayor Swinton finally entered. Everyone stood, even Judy, but Nick refused to stand. He remembered what the white Raven said about her. It made Nick exceptionally more suspicious of her character. Swinton made eye contact with him. Immediately Nick was smiling and clapping, only to avoid her suspicion. Nick couldn't believe who was following her. It was Savage, only he was in his old disguise that Nick first knew him as. The hyena in the black suit was Jack's alter ego, Frank Savage. How the hyena costume worked was beyond Nick's understanding, but he didn't need to understand it. He just needed to roll with it.

"Hello, Zootopia." Mayor swinton smiled as people applauded her. "Thank you, thank you so much for joining us tonight in this momentous occasion. I wanted to start off by recognizing how afraid some of you must be. After this digital hacking terrorist made the absurd claim that a premature demolition was an act of terrorism, who wouldn't be afraid. Fear is usually always with us. But now, we just don't have time for it. Not now!" The pig motioned for the crowd to settle down after a roar of cheers.

Nick whispered to Judy, "What a ham."

Swinton went on. "For a long time now there has been distrust with the government, but today I hope to sway that opinion with the cooperation of the mammal in charge of Project Empire. After all, I've said it time and time again. Cooperation is better than conflict, and unity is more important than division. My fellow Zootopians, it is my privilege to introduce the Director in charge of Project Empire, please give a warm welcome to Frank Savage!"

There was a bombardment of photos and clapping which seemed enough to make Savage uncomfortable, even in disguise. Nick could tell. "Hehehe. That's quite the introduction, Gloria. I'm sure I can scarcely match your showmanship as I introduce my esteemed colleagues." Savage gestured to the empty spots on the stand. "Would you please take your seats?"

Cameras began to flash.

Nick leaned forward to see them as they entered. Whiplash came in first, eliciting a hushed excitement from the crowd that evolved into applause that was louder than the round given to Swinton. Behind him was the Moth, whose Empire worthy upgrades gave him even more of a terrifying presence than before. A sharp glance from him brought out a few "woahs" from some of the camera operators. The Phoenix came in next, and Nick laughed inside at some comments about her sense of fashion. Lastly, Crystal came up. There were a few murmurings about her, due to the fact that every exposed part of her body was covered in bandages, and her tail had a hot pink sleeve on with black polka dots.

Savage looked to Crystal before sitting down. "If you please, feel free to show your true colors. Hehe, or lack thereof."

Crystal took off her kepi and began to unwrap her face. News reporters asked their camera men if they were capturing the sight of the mammal disappearing before their eyes. Crystal laughed as she tossed her bandages behind her. "Now you see me…" There was a whistle from the crowd, and a few laughs. "We'll talk later, darling." A train of oh's carried through the conference hall.

Savage smiled. "Hehehe, my apologies everyone. Miss Crystal's abilities have given her a personality of…"

"An acquired taste." The Phoenix finished.

Crystal put her kepi back on so the crowd could see where she was looking. "I'm not apologising."

The moth tapped his microphone. "So, I have a confession to make. I'm actually a genius billionaire. That's right. I am Ironfox." There was a bubbly laugh from the crowd as animals took note of the Moth's humor.

Savage spoke up. "I'm sure the public would like to know their tax payers' dollars are going to more than witty remarks."

"Are there any questions for these remarkable animals?" Swinton's question lead to a wave of hands raising. "Yes you in the front."

A young racoon stepped forward. "This is a question for Whiplash. Where did you go after the radicals known as Novus Purificatio were defeated?"

Whiplash calmly responded. "I was recruited by Mister Savage to serve as a part of Project Empire, engaging in spec ops missions to preserve this nation's security."

"Well put." Savage added. "Next." He passed the imaginary talking stick to another.

A beaver stepped forward. With a microphone connected to a news camera. "Is it true that the Raven is the one that hijacked the ZNN studio?" The crowd buzzed to life at that question.

Nick could see through their masks. He didn't see Whiplash and the Phoenix, he saw Adam and Lily. He saw in that split second that they would struggle. So, he stepped in. "As one of Project Empire's coordinating officers on the case, I can tell you there is no evidence to support that claim." Nick looked at Judy, who was surprised by his response to the question. Seeing her reminded him of how used he was to lying. "Furthermore, whoever this would be cyber terrorist is, the mammal in question will face justice at the hands of the Empire." Nick could feel Judy watching him, as though it was more shameful for him to lie than the rest of the Empire. "Next question."

A jaguar stepped forward. "Can we see a demonstration of abilities?"

Whiplash stood up. Looking at the jaguar, he asked her to produce a business card or receipt she wasn't attached to. Once she had a paper in hand, Whiplash did a standing backflip over his chair. Mid air, he used ancestor's whip to slice the jaguar's paper in half. Sticking the landing to his flip, Whiplash used his whip to yank a wireless mic from a reporter's grasp. He tapped the microphone to check it. "Is that a good enough demonstration?" He tossed the mic back to the reporter.

The crowd looked to the Moth. "Oh. Me." He activated tasers that sent sparks flying from his knuckles and finger tips. Standing up he showed off the wingspan of his new glider system, courtesy of Project Empire. "I would show you more, but legally everything else is for criminals." His no nonsense tone garnered a stiff silence from the crowd.

The Phoenix stood up and kept moving up into the air. Ethereal waves of light formed into spiraling patterns that vanished after colliding together.

Crystal looked at the crowd. "I don't need to show off. You get the picture, crystal clear."

Nick watched the whole show. He answered the handful of questions he was asked. Through the whole thing he kept his eye on Swinton and Savage. Neither looked each other in the eye. Someone had a knife for someone's back, and they both knew it. There was the silence from Judy who seemed to avoid his glance. Something bad was coming. Something awful. And while these reporters wasted their times asking petty questions about what color underwear these animals had, they were missing the bigger picture. Swinton was parading the Empire for some reason. She was steering their attention away from the white Raven. But why?

As the audience got excited about some of the responses, Nick took note of the crowd. He froze and kept still without any sign of emotion eluding to what he saw. In the very back. A hooded figure in white lowered their hood to reveal a white Raven mask. The figure did nothing, just stared back a Nick shaking their head. In the blink of an eye, the figure was gone from Nick's sight.

Swinton was saying something, something that captivated the crowd's attention. Nick ignored it. It was probably some politician's lie. 

"I'd like to make a statement." Nick stepped on whatever speechcraft Swinton had prepared. All cameras and eyes were suddenly on him. Savage, Swinton, and the Empire looked at him. Judy finally looked at him. "People, these mammals are here to help you. They are, for all intensive purposes, superheroes who can make the world a better place. Don't dismiss them as political pawns. You have an opportunity here, to live in a world where great evil meets its match with an even greater good. You are privileged to have mammals like these who care so much about your safety and well being, more so than any politician who marches in with false promise." Nick saw the twitch in Swinton's face, but that was undermined by the more important look from Judy who was smiling. "I'd hope that you don't waste this opportunity by betraying these mammals' trust. Some have given up their lives for you. Sacrificing time with their families, they do it for you." Nick had to breath as he almost choked on his words. The words that spilled from his mouth echoed from his past. They were also for his own heros. They were for his mother who did all she could, for his father. Nick eyed his greatest hero, and friend. He held back the itching in his brain from Judy. "Don't squander that gift." Nick looked at the astonished crowd one last time. "That's all I had to say."

Nick walked off the stage as Swinton announced an impromptu intermission. The fox darted onward, deeper into the Conference building, through the kitchen and into the back alley. There he bent over as his breaths sporadically came and went. No it wasn't a heart attack, not in the traditional sense, but rather in the emotional sense. "What am I thinking?" He spoke to no one in particular. Maybe he was talking to that mammal in the sky, if he existed, maybe he was listening. "Just a dumb fox." He kicked the dumpster. "Dead, not dead. I've had enough of you Kit!" He kicked the dumpster again. "Why Judy? Why her. Why is it her?!" He kicked again, yelling. "Why a fox?" Now he was talking to that mammal in the sky. "What'd I ever do to you?!" He kicked the dumpster with his other foot three times. "Old. Not enough time. Why am I a," he muttered a curse, "fox!" He cried out again as he slammed the dumpster with his shoulder, knocking over a can. From the can a glass bottle filled with amber liquid rolled to the fox's feet.

Nick laughed at the sky, practically mad. "That's a nasty trick." He made sure there was no one around. He didn't want Judy to see him like this. Anyone but her. "Nasty thing to do, to an old fox who got it bad for the impossible." He picked up the bottle. Cracking open the lid, the smell nearly knocked him out of sanity as a darkside screamed, drink! The fox tossed the cap. His tongue felt dry, thirsty for more relief from complications in racial identity.

Before a drop could make it to Nick's mouth, a white light wrapped around the bottle and took it from him.

Whiplash looked at the bottle. "Not even a good year Nick." He tipped the glass bottle over pouring its contents onto the ground.

Nick completely lost it and dived for the drink bound for the drain.

Whiplash grabbed his paws and held him back. "Nick, stop." The fox struggled to lick the dirty filth he'd dragged his paws through. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Nick stretched his neck, tongue hanging from his mouth as he reached for something, anything left in his paws to get a buzz.

Whiplash dragged him back in side and found a sink full of soapy water. He dropped Nick face and hands it. The fox collapsed the moment he came up from the water.

Nick's paws were clean, his eyes red, and his mouth filled with the awful bitterness of soap.

Whiplash looked around the kitchen. There was no one except the Phoenix who watched. "Lock down this room." The Phoenix complied with his request, stepping out, she sealed the whole room. "Nick." Whiplash pulled his mask off.

Nick's one paw was pickled, reaching for an invisible drink. "I need."

"No, stop it. Darn you!" Adam grabbed Nick's paws. "Look at me!"

Nick's red and green eyes blankly stared up at the wolf. "I can't do it." His face completely puckered. His eyes began to swell, not from the soap alone. "I can't say it. We're not-."

"Not? Not what?" Adam pat Nicks face to pull him back to reality.

Nick reached into his pocket. "Not the same." He stared at the photo he dropped. His eyes were too puffy to get a clear look.

Adam picked up the photo of Nick and Judy, on valentines day. It was years old, before they split up. Adam cringed with his own heartache as he saw the note from Judy on the back.

Nick banged his head against the counter until Adam pulled him into a headlock. "Not the same!"

Adam commanded his whip to keep Nick's legs from flailing and kicking. The fox had almost brought down a box of knives on them.

"I'm sorry Nick."

Adam looked up and saw another standing in the kitchen. It was a tiger. Tied to his belt was a familiar looking post office cap. And, his face was obscured by a white Raven mask. "Hobbes?"

He looked older. "I'm sorry, Nick." The tiger ignored Adam.

Adam furrowed his brow. "What did you do?"

The tiger looked up at the wolf. "I'm sorry, Adam."

"What did you do? Adam Hobbes, what did you do?" Adam Wolff struggled more to keep Nick contained. "I trusted you!"

The tiger walked for the back door. "What more could I have done?"

Adam looked to the other door. "Phoenix!"

The Phoenix slipped through the door.

"Keep the doors locked and hold Nick." Adam released Nick to the Phoenix's powers, pulled his mask on, and ran outside. He saw Hobbs closing a door. Running to the door, he yanked it open. Whiplash stepped back as the only thing behind the door was the brick wall of the building it was attached to. "What?" He spun around, looking for the tiger. He was nowhere. Turning back around, the door was gone.

Whiplash thought he was going as crazy as Nick. Then he heard the whimpering voice of the tiger, Adam Hobbes, floating away on the wind. "What more could I have done?"


	11. Chapter 11

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 11 "Little Talks"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Daniel could find no end to his joy as he saw his hero along with others by his side. He was texting Caleb and Sara who were on their way back from the mall with food. Daniel was stuck home today watching his sister while his parents were swamped with work. His mother, undoubtedly, was probably on top of the conference for work. His father, he didn't believe he cared about this stuff.

"Daniel. You listing?"

"Listening." He corrected his little fox sister. He peeled his eyes from the TV when Swinton started to talk. No one really paid attention to what she said anyway. "Yep. Explain it again." He looked at the bizarre drawings his sister had laid out. "Kitty, what's this green thing."

"That's just face paints. He's gaay." Katherine fished through crayons and continued to draw more pictures.

Daniel did a double take. "Uh, gray?"

"Yeah. Dat color." Katherine seemed to draw a lot of pictures that were all the same with some slight difference. "He's my bestest friend."

Daniel smiled at one which featured a recognizable pink fairy princess plastic tea set. "Does your imaginary friend have a name?'

"He's not imagery." Katherine frowned. "Im-agin-ary." She showed Daniel a crumpled drawing that was older than the rest. "I call him Dragon. See look. This was the first day we met. And he sav- uh, save-ed me from a stranger."

Daniel scratched the base of his antlers as he looked over the slightly morbid drawing of Dragon scratching away a ram. The red crayon made him uncomfortable. "Dragon isn't a homeless man is he?"

"No. He's not a hobo." Katherine's us of that word was strange. "He lives in the river, beetwin school and home."

"Between." Daniel softly corrected her. "Why is he scared in this drawing?" He convinced himself that it really was an imaginary friend. He entertained the idea, only because he knew what it was like. Daniel remembered scaring away monsters in his father's closet with a flashlight. That seemed so long ago for him now.

Katherine looked at the paper. "He didn't have any fwrends. His family didn't like him, so he left. I told him I would be his friend, so I visit him sometimes. And, I give him gifts."

Daniel set down the drawings as knocking came at the front door. He laughed as Sara rushed through the door, tackling him to the ground. "I guess I'm lunch." They both laughed as Caleb pushed the door shut with his foot, his paws full with food court grub.

"Geeze, Daniel. You're losing your touch." Caleb hung one bag on one of Daniel's antlers.

"Hey." As Daniel and Sara got up, Daniel quickly retrieved the bag from his antler. "You know how much it'd suck if my antler's broke?!"

The wolf shrugged his shoulders as he hopped onto the couch with his food. "Deer problems." Caleb popped open the white styrofoam vessel that preserved his food. "They look tough enough. I'd bet you could get hit by a car and your bones would break before your horns."

"Ant-ers." Katherine grumbled.

Sara sat next to the fox and put an arm around her shoulder. "Ant-lers."

Daniel couldn't help but admire that little moment. Outside of his family and the speech therapist, Sara was the only one that helped Katherine with her words. It was a nicer, more cheerful thought, than the darker one Daniel wished wasn't real. He had still yet to find out what the blue powder was that Sara had. There was something else too, Daniel noticed her eyes looked a little funny. She seemed tired. And the way she tackled him, it was odd. She seemed strong. That wasn't to say he believed she couldn't be strong. But rather, he felt that he needed his power to resist getting injured. Daniel wasn't sure if he had used his powers or not to take that tackle. Subtly using his powers in such a way had become instinct. So, he wasn't sure.

Nevertheless, Daniel smiled and sat down next to her. He returned his eyes to the TV.

Caleb crunched on his food slowly as he looked at his sister and his friend. "Hmm." He sniffed the air. Turning around he eyed a shirt hanging on the banister at the bottom of the stairs.

Daniel heard the sniffing and realized it was too late to stash the shirt since Caleb had already made eye contact with it.

Caleb set his food down and continued to chew his food as he walked over to the white under shirt. He grabbed it with both paws. He eyed Daniel as he buried his nose in the shirt.

Daniel frowned. "Seriously?"

Caleb's voice was muffled by the shirt and the food that was still in his mouth. "Hold on." He took a big whiff of the shirt. Swallowing his food he stared into blank space for a moment. "Oh-ho-ho!" Caleb twirled the shirt around on a finger. "That's girly perfume. I knew you were acting funny. You got yourself some poontang or something?"

"What?" Katherine squinted her eyes, trying to think of what pooterang was.

"What?" Sara's voice was more concerned.

Daniel buried his face in one hand, gesturing to the shirt with the other. "No. Listen Cale-."

Caleb took an even bigger whiff of the shirt. Batting his eyes jokingly, he shook his head. "The Gazelle number five doesn't lie."

Daniel folded his arms. His voice, he realized would betray him. But, he'd try it anyway. "It was like one kiss." His overnatural voice followed through in betraying him. Caleb cocked his brows and Daniel caved. "Twice! Fine. You happy?"

Caleb tossed the shirt. "Oooh! Daniel's got a girlfriend!"

"A girlfriend?" Sara asked.

Daniel raised his arms, ordering everything in the room to stop. "Guys, we haven't even been on a proper date for crying out loud." He looked at Sara, who's eyes seemed stranger than before. What kind of drugs did I take from you? She looked even more tired than before. It worried him. Why do you look so tired?

And just as everything seemed pretty bad so far, there was another knock at the door.

Daniel felt like tearing his eyelids off. What now?! He marched up to the door and yanked it open. He was about to yell some preprogrammed speal about no soliciting until he saw who it was. "Oh." Out of the frying pan…

"Oh, Hi Footloose." Daisy weakly smiled. "Your boss told me I could find you at this address.

...And into the fire. Daniel nervously smiled. He had just admitted to his friends and little sister that he kissed a doe twice. He knew Caleb would be all over it. Daisy kissed him as the Grasshopper, not Daniel. And if Caleb blabbed about it to Daisy, she'd think he was sick. Or worse, she'd find out who he really was. "Oh my, it's you."

Daniel was mortified when a certain little fox stepped up behind him and asked really loudly, "Are you my brother's pooterang?"

Daniel stepped outside and yanked the door shut behind him.

Daisy tried in vain to look around him. "What-erang?"

"Boomerang!" Daniel shouted which made Daisy back off slightly. He tempted a laugh as he could swear he was sweating buckets. "I think my sister is looking for her boomerang."

Daisy pointed toward the door. "You're sister has a boomerang? I thought those were only legal on Outback Island."

"Yeah." Daniel agreed. "That's why it's hidden."

Daisy's eyes grew as she looked up through the window at the top of the door.

Daniel looked up and scowled at caleb who was mouthing, "Oh my gaw-," before falling over.

Daisy looked back at Daniel. "Is this a bad time?"

"No." Daniel sighed. Then he got an idea. "My friends are here, and Caleb the window wolf likes to tease me anytime I'm around, uh, members of the opposite sex."

Daisy snorted and laughed. "Oh my." She pointed at the window. "He thinks? Us?"

"Yeah." Daniel smiled. "I mean, you probably got other guys you're more interested in. Right?"

Daisy's smile faded a bit. "There's one guy. But. Now that I think about it. I don't think he takes things slow enough."

Daniel felt his heart sink a bit. "Doesn't know what it's like to stand still for even a moment, like the rest of us."

"Yeah, that's-." Daisy didn't finish her thought. She just looked at Daniel. "Thanks though, for getting me that interview. I just wish they'd actually publish what I wrote."

Daniel blinked. "They won't publish it?"

"It's on hiatus. Apparently, they think it should wait till the terrorist thing and the Empire conference is done being blown up by the media. I don't know. I just wish-."

"It'll get published." Daniel cut her off. "I know it will."

Daisy smiled. "You really are something Footloose. It's too bad you're not the one running around, being a superhero." Daisy was about to walk away when Daniel grabbed her hand.

"Hey, Daisy." He was amazed that she didn't try to pull away. "You still want to do that review of Spanky's diner? I could score us some free food. Maybe we could-. Uh."

Daisy's smile gradually returned. "I think I'd like that."

Daniel was baffled that she actually went along with his clumsy attempt to ask her on a date. "Really?" He couldn't understand how he could be so bold behind the mask, and such a dork in real life.

Daisy nodded as she tightened her grasp on Daniel's hand. "As long as you don't move as fast as your friend." She leaned forward and gently kissed Daniel on the cheek. Then, she walked away containing smile after smile at the sight of Daniel's face.

Daniel felt like his face was going to fall off. "I'll text you, then." He turned back inside, unable to contain the stupid grin on his face." Waiting at the door was Caleb with his own stupid grin.

"My brudda! Nostrovia!" Caleb made a wave of clicking sounds.

As high on cloud nine as Daniel was, it made perfect sense. "Brudda, I have found a way."

Daniel and Caleb both squared their arms and slouched their necks while chanting, "For da Queen!" They let loose a round of clicking noises as they took their places by the TV.

Daniel sat next to Sara who moved over, away from him. He decided not to poke around. Sara seemed upset about something, and Daniel couldn't help but think about the blue powder. He had to figure out what it was, but until then, he hunkered down as the panel with the Empire came back on. He found some ounce of comfort in seeing his childhood hero, Whiplash, step out onto that stage.

"Unfortunately, Officer Wilde has left due to an allergy issue. Wish him the best. Now Whiplash, we've got a question just for you. This was sent in by someone named Daniel W."

Caleb pat Daniel on the shoulder. "Dude, is that your question?"

"Sh!" Daniel's eyes were glued to the screen.

"He asks, how do you balance life as a superhero and life with your family and friends?"

Whiplash looked over at his fellow super heroes. "I will say it's not easy. Especially if the blue and red suit gets mixed in with the whites." There was a laugh or two. "In all honesty though. Daniel."

Daniel felt his heart pound as Whiplash looked straight as the camera, as though he knew he was there.

"You find a way to bring balance. Everything seems like chaos at first. You try again and again to be two different people at the same time. And, it can feel like you're going mad. But, you find a reason to make it work. For me, it was my family. I love them. And, they're what inspires me to make it through the day. I know that by keeping the world as safe as I can, I make it safer for my family."

Daniel felt warmth travel down his face. He could feel the water from his eyes. Katherine crawled over and up to him to wipe away the tears. "Thanks, sis." Daniel's gaze wandered over to Sara, who didn't eat her food. She just seemed to stare at it.

The Grasshopper banged on the back doors of a baby poop orange van with the tacky image of a tribal fox holding a damsel. "{Open up!}"

A deep voice came from inside the van. "Who is it?" The doors burst open to reveal a small statured fox with giant ears in a bowling shirt. His novelty baseball bat looked normal sized for him. "Awe crap. I swear, I didn't do anything! Tell the Empire to leave me alone."

"{I'm not with the Empire.}" The Grasshopper pulled out a bag of blue powder. "{I need you to identify this substance.}"

The fennec fox looked at the bag. "Oh yeah? Why should I help you?"

"{Because, there's a young wolf who's hooked on this stuff. She's sick. And if I can't help her, anything that happens will be on your head.}"

The fox looked at the Grasshopper and grumbled. "Playing the guilt card?" The Grasshopper nodded. "Great. First it was Nick and his bunny broad, now this. Ugh. Let me see the stuff." He took the bag. Licking a nail of his paw, he dipped it in the blue powder and licked it again. Immediately he spit it out. "Yep! Thought so." 

"{What is it?}"

The fox shoved the bag back in the Grasshopper's grasp. "It's nighthowler. Watered down too. I'd say that's Doug's work. He likes to make it this way, now."

"{What do you mean watered down?}"

The fox sighed as he was about to close the doors to his van. "Mixed with cheaper drugs. Listen, if you really want to know more about it. Talk to Doug. He's in the older subway systems now, buried his head deeper ever since that whole mess with the Mayor trying to make us preds go savage."

The Grasshopper shined his flashlight along the old tile and masonry. It was like stepping back in time. He could practically feel jazz and war time music in every crack and crevice that he passed. There was an actual rotting poster that read, "Loose Lips Sink Ships." There was a split in the tracks leading to a different direction. The Grasshopper followed until he saw the outline of a red train. It had brass trim and copper pipes that moved from the front along the sides. It was old, and creaky.

The train looked older than the station it resided in. How that was possible, the Grasshopper couldn't tell. He even would have gone so far as to say it was from the beginning of time, though he had seen some trains in this style. It was more industrial than the trains that sported ears and brighter colors. There was something else. There was a breeze that moved from and towards the red hulk, like it was breathing. Waiting. The Grasshopper reached to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you."

The Grasshopper spun around to face a line of sheep. The one in the middle had no horns, and obviously looked like he was in charge. "{Doug?}"

"Who wants to know, unitard?" The sheep held their ground, seeming afraid - and not - at the same time.

The Grasshopper realised the two, on either side of the head honcho, locked their sights on the train. "{What's wrong with the train.}"

"The ghost train. Twelve of my guys went missing when they tried looking through it for salvage. One came back, kept muttering about voices and light. Had to send him to a loony house. We don't mess with the darn thing." The sheep looked carefully at the Grasshopper. "Wait. I heard about you. You messed up some of my guys."

The Grasshopper felt a gust of wind behind him, and he didn't have to turn to see that the train was gone. He could feel the black emptiness behind his back. "{They were robbing a doe.}"

The sheep scoffed. "Doesn't sound like my guys."

"{Funny, because the only sheep I dealt with were cornering a young lady for her belongings. And if they were your boys, Doug, they've been getting a little side action.}" The Grasshopper felt the weight of his collapsible staff on his back. None of them were armed, but he wanted to be sure of his defenses.

The sheep whispered to one of the rams who took off. "Call me Ramses. So, what's your business here in my kingdom of broken progress?"

The Grasshopper threw the bag of blue powder to Ramses. "{Is that yours?}"

Just by looking at the contents, Ramses was able to come to a conclusion. "Judging by the costume, I'm guessing you're one of those Empire freaks."

"{No.}"

Ramses looked at the bag. "I assume there's a reason you've brought my merchandise back to me."

"{There's a red wolf by the name of Sara. I need you to stop supplying her with drugs.}" The Grasshopper pulled a bag from his shoulder. "{I imagine this should be enough to convince you.}" He zoomed forward, dropped the bag, and zoomed back.

Ramses gestured to the bag. The ram still with him opened the bag and pulled out a stack of hundred dollar bills. Ramses took the stack and examined it. "Counterfeit?" He saw the rest of the stacks all piled up in the bag by the dozens.

"{Yes.}" The Grasshopper confirmed. "{Broke up two lions trying to kill each other for that bag. I imagine you'll use it all the same.}"

Ramses nodded, a slight smile forming. "Done. We'll no longer supply Ms. Redd with her fix. And with the quality of this exchange, I'll make sure no harm comes to her."


	12. Chapter 12

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 12 "Heathens"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Gloria Swinton stared out the window of the mayor's office. "One thing these pests know how to get right. A decent view." The phone at her desk rang to life. "What now?" Swinton picked up the phone. "Hello. - Yes I know it's been a week since the conference. - You stress too much. - Ha! The ZPD is too sluggish to get anywhere. You know as well as I. Laziness is a trait in mammals. - Please. The Empire's a joke. Yeah, I read the paper. The Grasshopper won't be a problem when my guys in the ZPD are done."

She was too busy talking to notice the miniature horse poking his head through the door. Sebastian stayed quiet. Swinton was facing the window and didn't see him.

"Hastiness was what almost killed us last time. - Those terrorists, that-? No. Who's going to find out? They're trash, nobody's going to believe them. - I know you don't want animals to know we want to exter-." Gloria stopped at a skuff.

Sebastian froze as he cursed inside at his slippery hooves.

"I'll have to call you back." Swinton set the phone down and smiled at Sebastian. "Oh, look at my Sebastian over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest?" She beckoned him to come in.

Sebastian stepped forward, files in tow. "I got those reports you asked for. The tiger outside gave them to me."

"Good. Good, Sebastian." Swinton took the files from him. "Another Raise for your wonderful cooperation."

Sebastian stiffened. He felt like a pet with the way the mayor called him good. Good boy, good mindless Sebastian. He wanted to get out. He wanted to escape.

"Also. I looked into your living conditions, and have found them to simply be unacceptable. I've acquired a penthouse a the Buffalogate Tower. Also, there's a new car for you in a spot with your name on it. Only the best for my friend." Swinton ruffled his mane as she handed Sebastian a set of keys.

Sebastian felt his senses go numb at the sight of the name on the keys that was obviously foreign and expensive. "Why are you doing this?"

"Loyalty should be rewarded." Swinton smiled. "And between you and me, you're probably the only competent male around. You don't possess the toxic masculinity of these airheads, these hotshots in suits."

There was a certain note of pride that swelled up in Sebastian. He remembered why he got into Swinton's election campaign. She had always had opposition from crooks like Howlerson, Lionheart, and Wooley. They said her pretty little mind couldn't handle the harsh reality of running a government. "You showed them who was boss, didn't you."

Sebastian smiled as he drove to his new apartment. The car was cherry red, electric, and had way too much power behind it than was needed for his commute to city hall. Passing the keys to a valet, Sebastian was almost jumping with excitement as he entered the glamorous building where animals of high esteem and deep pockets tipped their metaphorical hats to him. The elevator seemed to be lined with gold with buttons like rubies next to each floor number. The ride to the ninety seventh floor was tantalizing despite the soothing jazz that poured from the elevator's sound system.

With a ring and a ding, the doors opened to reveal a dark maned mare in a tight skirt and jacket. "Sebastian?"

Sebastian felt bubbly with how the mare said his name. "Hello, uh-."

"I'm Alicia. Follow me so I can show you to your place." The way the mare looked at him, it was blood boiling.

Sebastian dumbly followed her out of the elevator. "Yes."

Alicia let him down a hallway with red carpet and crystal chandeliers. "Tell me, Sebastian, do you have anyone else that will be joining you here that needs a key. A companion? Partner? Lover?"

The swaying mare's hips almost completely distracted Sebastian from that question. "Well, not really."

Alicia smiled as she stopped at Sebastian's room, room thirteen. "Perhaps I could fix that." Unlocking the room and stepping inside, Alicia winked at Sebastian.

Sebastian's jaw dropped at the wide open view of the city. The massive glass panels almost looked like one giant piece. The walls were crimson with charcoal carpets. The white paneled kitchen area had granite countertops similar to the charcoal carpets. A grand silver chandelier hung from the partially domed ceiling. Each crystal looked like a star.

In the kitchen, Alicia was cutting up vegetables. "I thought I would make some lunch before showing you the rest of the apartment. We could start with the bedroom after we eat."

Sebastian loosened his tie. He looked out over the city through the glass. "It's a bit hot in here." He looked at the cars below. Life was bustling ninety six stories below him.

"Are you hot?" Alicia turned on the water and garbage disposal as she threw vegetable skins into the sink.

Sebastian turned as he heard a clank and a scraping sound that made his gut jump. "Alicia?" He saw that she had accidentally dropped the knife in the garbage disposal, blade up. "Here, let me get," Alicia was already reaching for the blade with her bare hand, "wait. No!" Sebastian shielded his eyes as a bright flash nearly blinded him. When his eyes cleared, he struggled to gasp at the sight before him.

Alicia's hand was gone, and in its place was a metallic stump along with sparking wires and gushing amber fluid. "Maybe, lunch can wait." There was nothing but calmness in her voice. "I can see you're stressed. Maybe we could loosen things up in the bedroom."

"Stay back!" Sebastian picked up an aluminum chair as Alicia approached him.

"I'm not giving up," Alicia's voice began degrade, "r-until-til-til r-your r-needs r-are r-sat-sat-satisfied."

Sebastian threw the chair at her head. He threw up when he saw that her face ripped off to reveal a mess of wires, metal jaws with real looking teeth, and glassy eyes that dripped with more of that amber fluid.

"R-you r-could r-have r-asked, r-if r-you r-didn't r-like r-my r-make r-up, srilly."

Sebastian crawled backwards as it towered over him.

"R-What's r-wrong? R-loooverrrrrr boooooooyyyyyy." Alicia's speech slowed down until she went stiff, not moving any more.

Sebastian stood up and wiped his mouth of his former breakfast. "What the?" He pushed alicia over and cringed at the metal crunch her impact made.

"Sorry about that."

Sebastian jumped and screamed when he saw Swinton and two more mares. "Gloria?"

Swinton shook her head. "I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience, my friend. The older models were supposed to be decommissioned on this floor."

One of the mares, in a tight maintenance uniform, carried Alicia's body away. The other mare looked almost exactly like Alicia, except her mane was blonde. She walked up to Sebastian and rubbed his shoulders. "It's going to be okay. I'm Carrie."

Sebastian melted as Carrie worked his shoulders, releasing tension. He didn't even notice falling into her lap as she continued to work his shoulders. His mind woke up telling him, Snap out of it! It was too late as he felt Carrie's arms slip around him in places he could never feel comfortable again with. She was warm, but her breath was cold. He tried to break free, but he couldn't break from the mare whose arms had the strength of an elephant somehow.

"Relax Sebastian, my friend. I know how hard it is for a horse of your stature to find love, but there's no need to worry about that now. Love is a shallow thing. It's a misinterpretation of one's biological instincts, to breed and reproduce. Carrie will take care of that need for you now." Swinton picked up Alicia's face and tossed it near the door. "I like you, Sebastian. You're good company. And, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Sebastian could smell the crickets on her breath, and something else that wasn't natural to be coming out of anyone's mouth. He almost gagged when Swinton got close to him. He turned away, shutting his eyes, trying to control his stomach.

"I'll give you everything you've ever wanted. You can do whatever you desire, and no one will ever look down on you or argue with your word." A twisted smile spread across Swintons face as she opened her mouth.

Sebastian yelped as a long skinny tongue swept up his neck and across his face. He knew there was no way in the deepest darkest pit that that was the tongue of a pig. It was something else.

"Don't be a square Sebastian." Swinton stepped away, towards the door. "You know what? You deserve a paid vacation. I can see you're on edge. Cool off for a while. Enjoy the company." The pig strolled through the door, closing it behind her.

Carrie loosened her grip on Sebastian who bolted for the door. He struggled to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Sebastian?"

Sebastian looked up at Carrie who stretched out her arm to him. She looked sad somehow. It actually hurt him. "I know you want some space, but would you mind if we cozied up on the couch, maybe watch the news. Whatever you like."

"You're a machine." Sebastian snapped. He knew she was, but the look on her face made him want to crawl into a hole for what he said.

She wiped a tear away. "So are you. You have a computer, a brain. You have electricity, blood." She gently held his arm. "Please."

Sebastian felt his will cave as he stepped forward, his conscience screaming at him. And yet, he walked Carrie to the couch where she spooned him like a stuffed animal. He didn't like it, at first. Then Carrie wrapped her arms around his torso, holding the remote to the hundred and ten inch screen in front of him. She turned it on and handed him the remote. ZNN was on.

Sebastian sighed as Carrie untied his tie. He hated that it was almost comfortable, almost real.

"Police are on site at the Clarabelle Apartment Complex, investigating the death of up and coming Journalist, Daisy Pronger. The doe had graduated from high school less than a month ago, already in an internship at Zootopia Times. Her first major Article, 'My Date With a Superhero' had just been released this morning, only hours before the police got the call. The editor in chief, Lily Wolff, has expressed her condolences to the grieving single father who lost his only daughter."

Sebastian sunk into Carrie's form.

"Wanna change the channel?" She asked, stroking his arm.

Sebastian shook his head as the sleepless face of a snow leopard filled the screen.

"...everyone she worked with, loved her. They said she was the brightest. I believe that. And, everyone here at Zootopia Times is praying for her father."

Sebastian felt numb as he forgot, more and more, that a machine was holding him. His conscience was getting quieter. How could a machine be so warm?

"We have received word that it is believed that this is in fact a crime scene, that Miss Pronger's death was not accidental, nor a suicide. A white-raven mask has also been found at the crime scene, leading officers to believe that the cyber terrorist that took over ZNN might be connected."


	13. Chapter 13

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 13 "The Story Of A Soldier"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Nick lead Adam Wolff through the back entrance to the ZPD. They didn't need a flashing costume to draw attention, and they didn't want to turn heads with a random citizen entering the forensics lab in the basement.

Adam stared at Nick who was wearing grey sweats and his ZPD sweater instead of his usual uniform. "Feeling any better?"

Nick said nothing about the aftermath of that day. He had already said what he needed to say. He'd dragged on enough with the ceaseless rants to the wolf about his shortcomings with his partner Judy. "Come on, the bodies are back here."

Adam just followed Nick. In the basement, he saw Judy and Agent Einswine. "Einswine. What are you doing here?"

The boar twirled her keys around as they approached. "I has coroner van. So, I bring body of little doe. Bad business that." Penelope unlatched the door to the cold chamber. She pulled out the long stainless steel bed holding up a lifeless corpse with a toe tag. "Take a look." She pulled back the sheet covering the body to reveal its face.

"Geese." Nick muttered. "Just a kid." He looked at Adam who seemed indifferent to the lifeless doe. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Adam read the toe tag. "Daisy. Hmm. No. I mean, I saw most of my family killed, and with my time as a vigilante," he rested a paw on the doe's head, remembering another like her he once knew, "there were other vigilantes, young, who didn't always make it." He pulled the sheet down further. "Hey Nick." Adam puckered his face and covered his nose. He pointed to the black spot that smelled of charred fur and flesh. "What do you make of that?"

Nick covered his nose and stepped up onto a chair to look. "Thats a burn."

Penelope handed them both latex gloves. "Gets more interesting. Here, have look." She pulled on her own gloves and lifted the doe's shoulder up. "See? Clean through!"

Nick looked at the light that passed through the gaping hole where the doe's heart should have been. "It was cauterized. Something really hot, but it would have to have been moving fast enough to go clean through like that. And, what do you think the size of that hole is?"

Adam used his paw to guestimate the size of the hole. "At least four, maybe five inches wide. It's almost like a cookie cutter. Look, bone is missing." He looked up at Nick. "This isn't exactly the Raven's calling card."

"No." Nick agreed as he felt his heart ache in memory of his heart attack. It had happened to Bogo, it happened to him too. That was the only other thing. Nick wondered if the heart attack gun known as the reaper was at large again. "The Raven would have been more subtle, unless she wanted to make an example of someone. But, prey animals the NP attacked were usually found in alleyways or just up and disappeared."

Adam examined the wound. "Doesn't make sense. The two mammals with the white raven masks at ZNN, they were prey. Why would they be working _with_ the Raven." He frowned. "No, that's not possible. It can't be."

"Vhat is it?" Penelope asked Adam.

The wolf slipped his gloves off and crossed his arms. "I think I know who'll recognize this wound."

Lily cracked the door to Daniel's room open. "Sweety, there's pizza downstairs."

Daniel just sat there at his desk, his eyes glued to the rainy sky outside his window, a strange crystal in his grasp. Lily had always wondered about that crystal. There was something familiar about it.

"Okay." The snow leopard shut her son's door and sighed at Kathrine who was camping by her brother's door in a little makeshift teepee.

"Mommy?" The fox looked back and forth between Daniel's room and her mother. "Is he sad?"

Lily wasn't sure. "Just give him time." She picked up the paper plate at the base of the fox's teepee. Usually she'd _parent_ and tell Katherine how she shouldn't eat food upstairs, but she didn't want to make a fuss with Daniel's state. Halfway down the stairs with pizza plate in hand, Lily felt her pocket buzzing. She checked her cellphone. It was adam. Tapping the green button she whispered over the phone. "Hi honey, what's up?"

" _Lily. How is Daniel?"_

Lily moved to the kitchen where she threw away the paper plate and started wrapping up the leftover pizza. "He's not crying. It's off. It's like he's shellshocked."

" _You said he only knew her for a few days."_

Lily sat down in a nearby stool as she took deep breaths, thinking about what she was able to get from the Redds about the first date Daniel somehow failed to mention to either her or Adam. "Yeah. Is there another reason you called?"

" _Well, ugh, yeah. There's a photo I need you to take a look at. It's of the doe's body. Remember that other timeline you told me about?"_

"Yes. What about it?" Lily looked at the text she had just been sent. She opened it up. "Oh, my word. No. No, no, no. Not here. It can't be here!"

" _You recognize it?"_

Lily concentrated to control her breathing. "Adam," her mind began to flash back to that dark place, "Adam," where he was dead. "This is the doe?"

" _Yes. Is it what I think?"_

"That's a burn from a plasma rifle." She felt her world cave in as an old nightmare returned. "Adam, please come home." Lily pulled a bag from the cupboard and began to breath in and out of it.

" _On my way!"_

Lily grabbed her ears as noise filled the air around her. Her mind burned as realities collided. _We have to get her out now!_ Suddenly, she was on the battlefield once more, plasma bursts flying past her face. _Take cover!_ Shrapnel and fire filled the air. Bodies were scattered everywhere. Smoke rose from the burned out holes in their chests. _You are in grave danger, Lily Clawhauser._ Lily could see her younger and older selves. _It's your fault she's dead!_ No, he didn't remember her. _My name is really of no consequence._ Mammals were dying. _Sky?_ Time broken... _help to fix time_ …

Lily was brought back to reality by the doorbell. "Coming!" She worked to compose herself despite the pain crawling through her ears. She opened the front door. "Caleb, Sara?"

The two wolves stood as though there were coals beneath their feet. Caleb was still in his Bug-Burga uniform and Sara was wide eyed and jittery. Caleb spoke. "Can we see Daniel?"

"Yeah, there's pizza in the kitchen. Why don't you try and take him some." Lily rushed them inside and stepped out, closing the door behind her. She hoped fresh air would help. It didn't. Again, she saw flashes of the past future. She remembered the feel of the neoprene garment and the her trench coat, only tattered. A holster held weight on her hip. Lily drew the plasma revolver from the holster and took aim at voices around her. She could see the faces of mammals she'd fought side by side with to change the course of history, to save the world, to save Adam.

" _LILY."_

Lily turned, pointing the plasma revolver at a cloaked snow leopard. "I remember you."

" _Descendent, take Deerenger's crystal to the monastery."_

A tail swept by in the corner of Lily's eyes. It looked hairless. She followed it left, and right, left again. It kept moving until it swept her up and knocked her on her back. Rolling over she saw firey silhouettes. Standing, she could make them out. A wolf, a snow leopard, and a deer. Two she recognized. " _Finish what we started."_ Their voices bombarded Lily's ears. Fire roared around her and she began to cry out for help.

"Lily!"

Lily came out of the vision to see her husband shaking her shoulders. "Adam?" She looked around. The warzone was gone. She was back in the present in front of their home in the rainforest district. "Adam." She buried her head into her husband's chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

Caleb looked at his sister as she carefully place a few pieces of pizza on a paper plate. Daniel's favorite, it was plain cheese pizza. His sister remembered that more than he did. "You've been acting strange."

"What?" Sara grabbed a few napkins and moved past her brother.

Caleb didn't like it. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he wasn't the slowest either. "You've been acting really weird around Daniel. What is it?"

"Caleb!" Sara frowned at her brother. "Daniel's hurt now. Can we just focus on being here for him."

Caleb nodded. He still didn't like it, but he followed his sister upstairs to Daniel's room which was guarded by a vigilant little fox with a foam sword. Katherine put up a finger to her lips, motioning Caleb and Sara to be quiet for a second. She listened to the door. "Okay, you can go in." Caleb snorted, _as if he needed permission to be there for his best friend._ Katherine hugged Sara. "You'll make him better, won't you?" Caleb hid his disapproving look from from the girls. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it seemed like Katherine was in on it. Caleb could only conclude that it was a girly thing, in which case, he realized he would never understand.

"We'll try." Sara opened the door to Daniel's room. She faintly cried when she saw Daniel sitting there the way he was.

Caleb felt like a knife sunk into his heart, hearing that sound from his sister. The only time he remembered hearing that sound, or anything similar, was from his mother when their uncle died. He looked at Daniel. A second knife. "Dan? Daniel? Danny Boy?" There was no response, directly at least. The deer was silently muttering. "Daniel. Come on. Talk to us!"

Sara held her brother back. She set the plate of pizza on Daniel's desk before gently grabbing the deer's hand. "Hey."

Daniel finally closed his eyes. "I should have listened." He tucked the crystal into his pocket. "It's my fault."

"No." Sara softly said to him.

Daniel yanked his hand away from hers, knocking his lamp off the desk. The bulb in the lamp shattered across the floor. "Not a game." Daniel snapped. "I know it's not a game!" With his arm, he wiped everything off his desk, including the pizza which landed in the glass of the broken bulb. "Careful, no game, too fast!"

Caleb held Sara back from reaching out to him.

Daniel screamed as he pounded on the wall until he broke through the drywall. Pulling his fist from the fresh hole, he staggered back, off balance.

Sara lunged forward and caught him. She gently pulled him to his bed. Caleb helped lift Daniel up on the bed where Sara cradled him. He was bigger than she, but somehow she managed to hold him like a mother cradling a child.

Daniel was now in full cry mode. His eyes were swollen with waterworks as his mouth almost began to drool.

"Sh. Sh. We're here." Sara wiped tears from Daniel's face and held his arm to wipe off the drywall dust.

Caleb forgot all the suspicion he had earlier as his sisters words finally struck him. As his best friend laid there, weeping, he remembered why they came. Caleb grabbed his friend's hand. "Let it out. It's gonna be," he didn't want to say alright.

"I barely knew her." Daniel finally huffed out. "It's my fault. I told my mom to put her paper in. It's my fault."

Sara grabbed the base of one of Daniel's antlers and cupped his face in a paw. "It's not your fault. Don't you dare believe its your fault. You didn't know anyone would do this to her."

As sudden as Daniel's fit came, it stopped. He repeated after Sara. "It's not my fault."

Sara repeated. "No, it's not your fault."

Daniel's eyes opened. They were red and bloodshot. "It's the Raven's fault."

Caleb felt a chill go down his spine. There were very few times he'd seen any extreme emotion from Daniel. But, this? Caleb had never seen anything like it. He saw a quiet rage of realization. He saw madness and anger. It was more than just that, though. This was unrelenting, unyielding. Caleb had never seen the look of murder in his friend's eyes.

Dawn treaded lightly as she crept around one of the cabinets in the Empire's data room. It was basically a library. Everyone called it that. Only, there was no warmth to it. Shelves were filing cabinets, records were computers and there was no silence. The hum of the computers was overwhelmed by the steady stream of classical music that was fed through the library's sounds system. This was the scene where Dawn had taken to sneaking about. Watching. Straightening her glasses, she looked at the wolf who was zipping through records. She had started observing Vernon Hunter. She didn't trust him. The way he carried himself, she believed it too good to be true. Dawn knew there had to be something up the sleeves of this _dirty pawed dog_.

Vernon continued looking through the Empire's database. "You're horrible at that."

Dawn didn't know who he was talking too.

"Miss Bellwether, I may not have hearing like Officer Hopps or Agent Savage, but I _can_ hear you."

Dawn stepped out from behind the filing cabinet. "You heard me?"

Vernon sighed as he scrutinized a record a little more than the rest. "You're a loud breather."

"I am not!" Dawn's collar beeped as she folded her arms.

Vernon's ear twitched at the beep. "Significantly above average volume." He cocked a brow. "Why are you spying on me?"

Dawn's arms dug deeper into her defensive stance. "Why would I be spying on a pred?"

Vernon sighed again. "You read my file nineteen times. It's on the Empire's record, who reads what, how many times, and how long. And from that snippy tone in your voice, I can tell you don't trust me."

"I don't." Dawn snapped back. "Well, I don't know."

Vernon nodded as he spun away from the computer screen, blinking away the pain from a few hours of research. He looked Dawn up and down. "You find me unsettling. But, why is that?"

Dawn's arms loosened up. "You look familiar."

"But, you don't remember." Vernon tapped the desk he sat at. "Is it that I remind you of some jerk that bumped you in the street, invoking further racism and prejudice against predators?"

Dawn's mind had suddenly been scrambled for anything that could make sense. It was like she'd thrown a ball tied to a string. It came swinging right back at her. She lost herself in Vernon's tapping. The tapping evolved into a scattered sound. Dawn could see a stretched out broken string, letter beads, her mother crying, the silhouette of a young-. "No." Dawn saw something else, bullies in a playground. Her hero, the-. "You remind me of a good mammal. But I've convinced myself that predators could never be good, so I can't believe you're who you say you are."

Vernon stopped tapping his fingers. "This good mammal, was he a predator?"

Dawn froze the moment Vernon said the one word. "I didn't say it was a he."

Vernon hummed as he scratched the back of his neck. "I read your file." The wolf smiled, only weakly. "I didn't remember either, why _you_ looked familiar. It's hard to believe you are who you are. I remember someone, but the someone I remember is a culmination of childhood fantasies and half forgotten midnight summer dreams." The wolf twirled a cellphone around in his paw. "I remember puzzles, uniforms that don't fit quite right. But that's wrong. Or at least, it's wrong now. So, why do I remember it? Why do I remember by brother wade-"

"-Giselle." Dawn blubbered out.

Vernon stared at Dawn. "Why did you say that name? Who's Giselle?"

"The giraffe at Snarlbucks-" Dawn stopped as she felt her nose run. "I-I-uh. I don't reme-. Brother's." Her collar flashed red.

"Hey!"

Dawn's collar went back to green as she looked up to see Vernon suddenly over her with a napkin under her face. "What?"

"Your nose." Vernon pulled her hand up to the napkin so she could hold it.

Dawn saw a flash of red and quickly worked to stop her nose from gushing. "I'm sorry!" Dawn's nasally voice was muffled by the napkin. "AH! My head!"

Vernon grabbed at his head as it too began to burn. "Floof…" He scowled. "Gah!" His nose began to drip with blood, scaring Dawn who fled the library. Vernon blinked as he squeezed his nose shut. "Miss Bellwetter?" Dawn was gone.

"Bedwetter?"

Vernon turned to see Peter with half a taco in his mouth and a take out bag. "No." He made a gesture to Dawn's height and made a horrible impression of a sheep noise. "Bellwetter."

Peter stopped chewing for a minute. "Oh! Knockout. What about-" The boar noticed Vernon pinching his own snout and the blood droplets on the floor. "Nose bugging you again?" Peter pulled brown napkins from the take out bag and passed them to Vernon.

"Yeah." Vernon tilted his head back as he compressed the napkins into his nose. "Were you looking for me?"

"Oh, yeah." Peter inhaled another taco. "Adam's looking for you, something about that Grasshopper guy that dead doe wrote about."

"Yeah." Vernon remembered he was supposed to talk to Adam about that. "Agent Einswine is having trouble tracking him. It's like he dropped off the face of the earth."

"Einswine? Did she say anything about me?"

Vernon squinted at Peter as he tried to look at him without bringing his head down. "Uhhh. No."

"Oh." Peter nodded. "I'm gonna go now."

Vernon turned his head, "Wait," but Peter was already gone. "Gosh, did I forget to shower or something?"

"No." A voice came from nowhere. "You smell just fine."

"Gah!" Vernon turned around and realized who it was when he saw nobody. "Crystal. Put on some clothes will ya!"

"I'm invisible." Crystal pointed out.

Vernon rolled his eyes as he left the library.

Adam looked over the map of all the recorded sightings of the Grasshopper. "There's no pattern. Dang it." Looking up he noticed Vernon walk in the room with his snout in the air and a fistfull of bloody napkins. "What happened to you?"

Vernon thought about it. "Still not sure. Anyways. I'm here now what did you want to discuss?"

"I need your help." The wolf pointed to the map. "I'm trying to figure out how he's been responding to all these crimes across Zootopia. It's been a decade since I acted as a vigilante and even longer since I started. I think this guy is an amateur. I don't know. I think I just need a fresh pair of eyes."

Vernon looked at the map, covering his nose as he did so. "Ah, a puzzle. I used to be good at these."

"I need help, not jokes, Vernon." Adam crossed his arms.

"No, Seriously. I was way into finding patterns and solving puzzles before my brother died." Vernon looked at the map. He turned it upside down and sideways. "Sudoku, hidden object games, word puzzles, symbols, and trivia. This is right up my alley." He looked at the pattern which was almost a triangle. Trying to connect the dots he gave up since the shape was so irregular. "Have you tried separating them by days and times?"

Adam blinked as he pulled out more maps of the city. "No."

The two laid out the maps and began marking them up. They started with early sightings which were more or less central to the Rainforest District.

Vernon chewed on a pencil. "He probably lives around the there. The early incidents look like he just sort of helped wherever he happened to be."

Adam laughed. "That's where I live. To think, I might have even bumped into him at the grocery store for all I know. Shoot, maybe he's young enough that my son knows him."

Vernon continued to look for patterns as he mapped out events. "Why the sudden interest in this guy?"

"That doe that wrote the article about him," Adam talked as he fingered through police reports, "she has burn marks that might be connected to the Raven."

"How so?" Vernon asked as he circled a cluster of sightings.

Adam froze for a bit. "Word from a soldier I know."

"A soldier?" Vernon asked.

Adam had a distant look about him as he circled clusters of his own. "Vernon? Do you believe in time travel?"

Vernon chuckled. "You mean like stainless steel cars going back in time, almost splitting up your parents so you weren't born kind of time travel? Or robots coming to the past to murder the leader of a future rebellion?" He saw that Adam wasn't amused. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Let's keep this conversation between you and me." Adam looked at his maps and Vernon's. Frustrated by the lack of a pattern.

"Woah. You _are_ serious." Vernon closed the door to the room. "You're saying there's proof that it exists."

Adam sighed. "Let's just say that this _soldier_ has seen the future and s-. _They_ recognized a wound on that journalist's body that shouldn't exist here and now."

"The future?" Vernon smiled. "What did this soldier say the future was like?"

Adam sat back in his chair as his face became grave. "There was a war, and we had lost against Novus Purificatio. I died, and so did most of everyone else."

Vernon set the maps down as he felt the weight of what Adam was saying. "You look spooked."

"Because what I thought was fantasy, of this _soldier's_ deep sleep, had some truth to it." Adam pulled up photos on a terminal. "During the rise of the conflict with the NPs, the soldier told us information, predicted things. The soldier showed us how to use EMP devices to disrupt mind control devices. And when NP foot soldiers were examined, we found components that had been implanted into their scalps. This soldier identified the Raven. When we investigated, we found it to be true.

Vernon looked at the EMP cannons attached to swat vehicles and the picture of Katherine Fawkes. "You're worried that if this much is true, then that future which the _soldier_ saw could also be true."

"That's right." Adam groaned at the maps. "Still don't see a pattern outside the original sightings."

Vernon looked between the circles of clusters. "Oh." He smiled. "This bug has a schedule!"

Adam shot up. "What do you see?"

"Mondays, Tuesdays…" Vernon made stacks and redrew the dots on seven maps. "Like I said," He circled the clusters on each new map.

Adam looked at them. "In each of these the radius is the same. He must be using a short range police scanner. Now we can predict where we can catch him."

Vernon clicked his tongue. "Uh, explain to me again how you expect to catch a mammal they say can outrun a train?"

Adam tossed a newspaper to Vernon. "Did you read about what happened to that doe? And how they connected her death with the Raven? That's the article she wrote."

"Woah." Vernon was already shaken by the weight of the title. " _My Date With a Superhero_?" He kept reading. "Woah, woah, you're not thinking he wants to get revenge on the Raven do you?"

Adam hummed as he looked at the map that corresponded with tomorrow. "I'm counting on it."


	14. Chapter 14

Heroes of Zootopia

Chapter 14 "Fox on the Run"

By DragonMan1997

Zootopia © Disney

Daniel stood under a bridge as he listened tentatively for any reports of crime. Pulling his mask back on, he assumed his alternate identity. The Grasshopper wasn't looking for petty crime this day. His objective had changed. A strange hate broiled inside of him. His skin and fur felt on fire beneath his suit. The Raven had terrorised the city as the leader of Novus Purification, she kidnapped him as a hostage as a child, and now she had killed someone he… "I don't know." It sickened him even more that he would never know. This doe had a bright future ahead of her with a promising career in a life filled with friends and family who undoubtedly loved her. That idea that it had so cruelly been cut short.

The police scanner sprung to life.

" _... we got a reported sighting of the Raven off of Cloud Alley and…"_

As soon as the Grasshopper heard the cross streets he zipped across the Rainforest district as fast as he could. Passing a park, he realised he could see basketballs moving in slow motion. He was going faster than he'd ever gone before, all the way to where the police scanner said the Raven was. The moment he stopped, he had his collapsible bow staff drawn and extended. "{What?!}" Looking down at what looked like the Raven with a tranquilizer to the shoulder, the Grasshopper removed the white mask. It was guy, a snow fox. The Grasshopper knew this wasn't the real Raven.

"Interesting."

The Grasshopper turned to face a figure casually leaning against a wall behind a dumpster.

"I was curious who this trap was for. Too dumb for me, but you." The figure laughed. "Ah yes, you're that buck from that girls article."

"{You're a murderer, Raven, and a coward.}" The Grasshopper stepped forward and swung with all his might.

The Raven used both hands to stop the force of the staff. She hummed. "Strong words from a buck who knows nothing about what what's really going on." She jumped up, head butting the Grasshopper before throwing him over her shoulder. "You're blinded by hatred they have seeded in your heart to throw your precious Empire off the trail."

"{I'm not with them!}" The Grasshopper lunged forward. His bow staff connected with the Raven's mask, shattering half of it. As he passed it, he could see the fiendish smile the Raven wore as she managed to grab his legs and send him flying with his own inertia.

"Heh." The Raven laughed. "That hurt." The fox's face showed through the shattered mask which still hung onto her face. "Kid, you don't know what you're doing. You got it all wrong-." Her voice was cut off as the Grasshopper landed a jump kick to her chest which sent her flying into brick wall.

"{No, you got it wrong if you think I'm gonna let you manipulate me into believing you!}" The Grasshopper closed the gap between them and grabbed the Raven by the collar of her coat. "{You're going to pay for everything you did.}"

The Raven looked at the Grasshopper, unphased. "Kid, you're letting your hat blind you from the truth. I didn't kill you're girl."

The Grasshopper's grip on the Raven tightened. "{Liar!}"

The Raven rolled her eyes and kicked the Grasshopper between the legs. "Fool." She brought his head down onto her knee and kicked his bow staff away. "You're making a mistake!" Grabbing his ears, she lifted him of the ground as he held onto her wrists to keep his ears from being torn off.

The Grasshopper realized the Raven was bigger than the usual fox, almost as big as a wolf.

"It's horrible what they did to her, and you taking it out on me is only helping them. Think of a smaller picture. This bozo in the mask isn't one of my guys. He's a decoy. Probably for you!" The Raven kneed the Grasshopper in the gut. "Get it through your thick skull!" She tossed him aside. "I'm not your real enemy."

Something inside the Grasshopper snapped. He saw flashes of when he was little, how this monster had tied him up and used him as bait for Whiplash. The image of his hero burned through his mind. He could see it again, the whip cracking vigilante held his hand out to him. "{You'll pay for killing Daisy!}" He ran to his bow staff and returned to the Raven with a vengeance. Time bent as he landed six shots on her before she returned the favor by kicking his knee and punching his side.

The Grasshopper ran back and forth up the alley, attempting to land a strike on the Raven, only to be countered with each attempt. He howled as he swept the Ravens legs from under her. He regretted slowing down in that moment when the Raven retaliated and spun around to sweep his legs, sending him into a roll. As the Grasshopper recovered from his tumble, he looked up to see an unexpected sight. Whiplash was standing over him as he watched the Raven disappear down a back alley. "Whiplash! I sure am glad to see you. Come on we need to catch the Rav-" Time froze as Whiplash had drawn his tranquilizer in his direction. The Grasshopper walked forward and plucked the flying dart, that was slowly heading towards him, right out of the air. Time normalized as the two stared each other down.

"So, you are as fast as they say," Whiplash holstered his tranquilizer, "but are you fast enough?"

The Grasshopper bolted for the alleyway where the Raven disappeared. He screamed at a pain that had somehow caught up to his speed. He slammed face first into the ground. Rolling over he saw the glow of Whiplash's whip coiled around his ankle. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take you in." Whiplash yanked on his whip.

The Grasshopper screamed as he felt himself flying through the air. He grabbed at the whip and vibrated his ankle free from it's tight grip. Rolling onto the street behind Whiplash, he readied his bow staff and spun it to build momentum before landing a strike on Whiplash's side.

Whiplash grabbed the staff quick enough to prevent it from breaking his ribs. Still holding on, he flipped a kick into the Grasshopper's face. "I really don't want to do this. Come quietly, or you leave me no choice."

The Grasshopper massaged his sore jaw that he could feel was bleeding a bit in his mask. "No thanks!" He twirled his staff and lunged forward.

Acting fast, Whiplash brought his whip forward to wrap around the bow staff. He quickly realized what a bad decision that was as the whip twisted on the spinning staff, pulling him forward. His face collided with one end of the staff, sending him over his feet and onto his back. "Uhg." The wind had been knocked out of him. "You're pretty fast." Whiplash still had a hold of his whip which was coiled around the Grasshopper's now motionless staff. He threw his weight into his legs and thrust his feet into the Grasshopper's stomach. "Not fast enough." As he regained his breath. He unwrapped the bow staff and tossed it down a gutter drain.

The Grasshopper felt his stomach burn in pain. His blood felt like it began to boil as he heard the sound of his staff disappear into the sewer. He ran in a circle, stirring up dust into a tornado.

Whiplash felt the dust that was probably pelting him at a hundred miles an hour from every direction. He clutched onto his whip tighter. "Time to shine." Whiplash focused his mind on the whip. It's ancient spirit seemed to connect with his soul as it knew what he wanted it to do. Whiplash swung his arm up and sent the length of the whip spiralling in the opposite direction of the tornado.

The Grasshopper looked in horror as his tornado was being torn to shreds by the glowing whip that now came at him. He yelped as the whip coiled around his horns and lifted him off the ground. He was still moving as the whip swung him around towards a car. It let go. The grasshopper tried to recover, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid clipping the edge of the car. He collapsed at the edge of the street. There was a clearing. It was his last chance of escape.

Whiplash swung whip and arm over his shoulder with his target in sight.

The grasshopper tried to run, but his legs betrayed him as they stuck together under the tight coil of Whiplash's whip. "That's not possible, I was almost breaking the sound barrier!"

"Whips break the sound barrier." Whiplash yanked him back onto the street. His eyes were focused as he registered every twitch the Grasshopper made. He cracked his whip one direction, then the other, and another. He sent the whip into a motion that made it crack rapidly on either side of the Grasshopper.

"Ah!" The grasshopper grabbed his own ears at the pain from the sonic booms that bombarded his senses.

Drawing his tranquilizer, Whiplash hit his mark. The dart landed square in the Grasshopper's shoulder.

The Grasshopper felt his breath get heavy as he collapsed to his knees. "What, is-" He dizzily looked at his shoulder and dumbly yanked the dart out. "Oy…"

"Now I'm really impressed." Whiplash picked up the dart. It contained a highly potent sleeping agent that could instantly knock out almost any animal, even an elephant.

"Thankee…" The Grasshopper's dumb smile was visible beneath his mask. "At lease sum wun thinkzso."

A black military style van with a radar dish rolled up to Whiplash and the practically drunken Grasshopper. Einswine exited the driver side door and administered a needle into the arm of the passed out snow fox. The back doors opened to reveal the black masked Moth. "So, another bug huh? Do we really need this guy, Whiplash? He's already cramping my style." He tossed Whiplash two sets of metal cuffs.

"He could be a valuable asset to the team. Besides, he was able to hold his own against the Raven, and that's good enough for me." Whiplash clamped the cuffs onto both the Grasshopper's legs and wrists. Pressing a button on the cuffs, Whiplash pushed the Grasshopper over to allow the cuffs to attract to each other. The Grasshopper's legs magnetically stuck to his wrists. "Einswine, how's our double?"

The boar laughed as she smacked the fox's face a bit. "Eh, he'll live."

The snow fox grumbled. "Next time, get Officer Wilde to pose as his dead lunatic girlfriend. You said nothing about that crazy criminal actually showing up."

Whiplash sighed. "It wasn't part of the plan. She must be listening to the police scanners as well. Must have not wanted an imposter floating around."

The Moth lifted the Grasshopper into the van. "Should we unmask him."

The Grasshopper began to struggle now. "No! My da' 'll kill meh."

Whiplash hook his head at the Moth. "Not here. Now hurry. We got to get this guy back to HQ before the effects wear off."

Daniel groggily peeled himself up off the floor. A massive headache banged around in his brain like a two by four plank swinging around a glass shop. He felt the fur on his face being squished by the mask he was still wearing. _They still haven't seen my face yet._ The thought was a small victory for Daniel as he thought about his next move, escaping. His blurred vision cleared up in time to see a metal door closing. _Crap._ He hoisted himself up and tried to bolt to the door. It sealed shut as he smacked into the now flush wall. "Gah!"

"Hello there."

Daniel turned to the projection on the wall adjacent to him. He blinked at the large image of the blue eyed jackrabbit.

"Take all the time you need to collect your thoughts, Grasshopper."

Daniel was glad he didn't hear his real name yet. That meant his secret was still safe. "Where am I?"

"A safe place. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Agent Jack Savage."

Daniel looked around the room, looking for a way out.

"Patience, Grasshopper." Jack's quiet laugh was unsettling to Daniel. "You will be let out in due time."

"What am I doing here?" Daniel pleaded.

"You're being evaluated for recruitment." Jack gestured to someone. "One of my best assets really had a challenge when I asked him to catch you."

Daniel felt a bitter taste enter his mouth when he saw Whiplash step into the frame of the projection. "Oh. Hello again ol' buddy ol' pal."

Jack laughed. "Whitty isn't he?"

Whiplash huffed through his mask as he tilted his head at the sight of the Grasshopper's suit which vaguely resembled his, but green and blue instead of red and blue. "I'm not sure whether to be flattered by the copycat design of your suit."

Daniel crossed his arms. "It's nothing compared to the original. I gotta say, I used to be a huge fan of yours until you stopped me from catching the Raven."

"She would have tore you to shreds if she wanted to. One slip in an actual fight, and you'd have been dead."

Daniel frowned as his would-be childhood hero talked down his abilities. "So what, I'm supposed to thank you? We could have worked together to catch the Raven!"

Whiplash shook his head. "The Raven's recent activities have done nothing to merit our immediate interference."

"She's a terrorist!" Daniel stomped his foot in anger. "Are you really going to do nothing!?"

Jack interrupted. "Nevermind the Raven. She'll get what's coming to her in due time, but now you are our focus."

"What do you want with me?" Daniel noticed another figure step onto the screen. He couldn't believe his eyes when he realized this new individual had no face and seemingly no body. It was just a floating shirt and coat. "What?" He remembered, from the conference.

"Hello darling. I'm Crystal." The figure mounted a hat on her invisible head. "Oh a deer? My my, you must be a cutie under that mask. Even if you're not a cutie, you're still fresh meat."

Daniel pulled back from the wall. "Is she crazy?"

A voice in the background called out. "Finally! Someone gets it!"

Jack sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Grasshopper. You're well aware that we are a collective of special individuals like yourself. These are the best of the best. We've already got a couple of vigilantes. You'd fit right in. Of course, you'd need some training. But in time, you yourself could be a valuable addition."

"Valuable?" Daniel laughed. "I had to get abducted to be told that? Hilarious."

Whiplash crossed his arms, much like Daniel. "You most certainly have value. You're good enough in a fight, but you could be better."

"Good in a fight?" Daniel smiled beneath his mask as he chuckled to himself. "Oh boy, my dad would kill me if he knew what I've been up to."

"Not a fighter, your old man?" Whiplash asked.

"Are you kidding?" Daniel burst out into hysterical laughter. "The guy wouldn't know how to defend himself if a sloth was about to punch him. He's a coward. And he hates my guts."

Whiplash sighed at Daniel. "You don't honestly believe that. I can understand a cowardly father, but not a hateful one."

Daniel scoffed at Whiplash. "If he knew what I was, he'd probably throw me out into the streets. I know he'd think I'm a freak."

Jack smiled. "There are no freaks here Grasshopper. There are only potential heroes."

Daniel was caught off guard by the word. _Hero._ He felt a warmth spread inside him. "You're not going to lock me up or anything?"

"Of course not." Jack reached into his coat jacket pocket. "And if you feel your current living conditions are less than desirable, we would welcome you to stay here or even an apartment nearby. You won't be treated like a freak here, Grasshopper."

Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He would never have to hide who he was from these animals. They were animals just like him. Here, he could belong. All this overwhelmed him to the point where he had held back tears of joy. "What do I have to do to join?"

"Cooperate." Jack nodded. "There's some pesky paperwork to fill out. Don't worry. The information will be kept secret, especially your identity."

"So, I'm good to take off my mask and come out?" Daniel waited before taking any action.

"Yes." Jack turned to Whiplash. "You can open the holding pen now."

"Finally." Daniel peeled off his mask as Whiplash walked off to open the door. "Man, this thing gets stuffy. What?"

Jack's eyes went wide as his smile evolved into a gaping hole of surprise. He recognized Daniel from the files. "Uh oh." He looked over to where Whiplash had gone. The hiss of the door opening prompted the jackrabbit to laugh nervously. "Oh, boy."

Daniel rolled his eyes as he saw whiplash step into the room. He jokingly smiled. "Not gonna beat me up again are ya?" His smile visibly waned as he noticed that Whiplash was shaking. "Uh." Daniel had no time to react as Whiplash darted forward and hugged him near to death. "I'm missing something here."

Whiplash pulled out from the hug. Reaching behind his head, he unzipped his mask and yanked it off.

Daniel felt his heart shoot up his throat and out his ears as he stared, half in horror and half in shock, at the face of his father. "D-dad?"

Adam's teary eyed face twitched and convulged in terror and fright. "Oh my-, Daniel?"

Daniel wished that he could crawl under a rock or anything for that matter. There was no running from this. There was no running from his father who he had been horribly wrong about. The truth steam rolled Daniel's mind as he looked into his father's eyes and saw every act of heroism that he had read about in the newspapers. He saw the mammal who fought countless criminals and even rescued him from the clutches of the Raven. "Dad, I'm-"

Adam's face turned to a scowl. "Grounded."

"What?" Daniel froze, confused.

His father stuck a digit up in his face. "You are so grounded!"

Daniel groaned as he fully registered what his father had said. Now having no door to his room was the least of his worries.


End file.
